


RWBY, M.D.

by LazyCatStuart



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Doctors & Physicians, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Medical Training, Mental Health Issues, Mentioned Physical Abuse, Nurses, Romance, Slow Burn, Therapy, Verbal Abuse, med students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-01-10 02:41:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 75,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12289485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyCatStuart/pseuds/LazyCatStuart
Summary: The Beacon General Hospital is the most prestigious hospital in all of Remnant. Being accepted into the BGH is probably one of the things all medical students dream of. For Weiss, this dream came true. As a nineteen-year-old prodigy, she can finally prove her talent and be a part of Remnant's medical elite. But she soon has to learn that it takes a lot more than medical knowledge to be a real doctor.On her way to achieve her goal, she will be met with a lot of things: New challenges, new enemies, new friends... and maybe something more...Rated M (for now) for swearing and verbal abuse





	1. Welcome to Beacon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, guys and gals. LazyCatStuart here – with something entirely different. I thought of trying an AU for a while now and I had a lot of different ideas, but most of them already existed, probably far better than I could pull them off. However, a Hospital or Doctor AU was something I hardly ever saw in RWBY (I'm not referring to the ones where they are patients for whatever reason). So I thought, why not giving it a shot?
> 
> I hope you're going to enjoy the first chapter of my new story: 'RWBY, M.D.'

'Ahhh... The Beacon General Hospital... The most prestigious hospital there is. I can't believe I got accepted into this teaching facility after finishing my preclinical and basic science studies in Atlas. Well... Father's opinion on this was pretty torn: On the one hand, he wanted me to stay in Atlas, so he could continue to control every aspect of my life... urgh... but on the other hand, he really couldn't say anything against it since this is the best medical education I can get to become a doctor. He might've been a pretty harsh father, but at least he can be reasoned with... sometimes... Wait! Why am I thinking about this depressing stuff when I can be overly excited about my first day of clerkship at the world-famous BGH instead?'

Weiss Schnee, daughter of one of the most powerful businessmen in all of Remnant, couldn't be happier as she strolled down the main road of Beacon's medical campus. Everything was perfect: The pristine white facades of all the different buildings, the perfectly trimmed grass of the green areas, the beautifully shaped hedges and trees, the old, classy-looking cobblestone walkways... the white-haired girl couldn't find a single thing wrong about this place.

With her posture perfect and her head held high Weiss walked down these exact cobblestone walkways, looking for the main building of the huge campus. Her Scroll didn't provide any useful information, for whatever reason, but there had to be a map somewhere. She had to attend her basic orientation before she finally could do real medical work. Weiss was eager to prove herself, showing everyone that she was just as capable as everybody else, maybe even more so. She was about to be a part of Remnant's medical elite, one of all these people in their white coats populating the campus and saving lives, accomplishing one of the most important jobs in the world.

'Finally some interaction with well-educated and sophisticated people to exchange views and ideas with. Okay, even all of my fellow students might be a bit older than I am, but they soon will become aware of the fact that I'm an extraordinary person. I mean, I finished high school when I was fourteen, then pre-med one year early, pre-clinical in record time, and now, with just nineteen, I'm just a stone's throw away from becoming a real doctor. Nineteen years old and almost a real doctor! They're going to love me. I mean, I'm a Schnee. Okay, maybe some of them are going to be a bit jealous, or intimidated by my grandiosity, but I can be pretty charming and generous. Also, I'm really cute, if I do say so myself, hehe. I'm pretty sure I'll be just...'

Her self-adulating daydream was interrupted by a collision with another person as soon as she turned a corner. The impact of the obviously running individual was strong enough to knock her flying and let her land on her butt. The person she had collided with suffered a similar fate and fell over as well.

"Ohmygosh! I'msosorry! Areyouokay?!", Weiss heard as soon as she had recovered from this unpleasant surprise. She opened her eyes and saw a young looking girl, a concerned expression covering her face. She was about as tall as herself, but that didn't signify anything since Weiss was quite short herself, something the white-haired girl was a little annoyed with. The other girl had black hair that graduated into red tips. She wore a red hoodie, a black skirt, black leggings, and black boots. Her silver eyes looked like the ones of a child that was about to be scolded. And, oh boy, a scolding was what she was going to get!

"What in all of Remnant's sake were you thinking, running around without giving a damn about your surroundings?!", Weiss yelled, "You could've hurt me, and you, by the way, but I guess _I_ have far more important things to attend to."

"I'm really, really, really, really sorry.", the unknown girl stammered, "I-I was in a hurry... and... and I didn't see you. I have to get to the ICU really fast, so I didn't look out."

"Yeah, whatever.", Weiss snarled, "Watch where you're going, you dolt! Anyway, why does a child roam around a medical campus like this? Did you run away from your parents?"

"Umm... well, actually...", the crimson-haired girl began but was quickly interrupted by Weiss.

"Nevermind.", the white-haired girl grunted, "I don't want to know anyway. Because of you, I'm probably going to be late. Can you at least tell me where I can find the main building of this horrendously huge campus?" Her good mood from earlier was completely gone.

"U-umm...", the young girl tried to recover from the waspish intimidation, but then she found her voice back, "Follow the main road further down, then turn left at the big underground carpark, then only straight ahead. Can't miss it."

She answered in a nervous, rapid and a bit frightened demeanor. Instead of the expected _Thank you_ , she only got another extremely annoyed grunt, then her new acquaintance turned on her heel and left.

"I'm really, really sorry!", the crimsonette cat-called at Weiss again, "I promise, I'll make this up to you!"

She didn't get any reaction at all. She didn't expect one, either. The younger girl just sighed and hung her head in shame.

'Way to start your day, Ruby...', she berated herself inwardly, 'Everywhere you go, you immediately drop a brick, one way or... the _other_...' Then, she checked her watch and almost had a heart attack.

"Oh no!", she whined, "Now _I'm_ gonna be late, too. Better hurry." With these words, she took off like a bullet to the ICU.

* * *

Weiss easily found the main building of the BGH's campus, thanks to the directions the weird, crimson-haired girl had given her. She entered the facility and noticed a young-looking woman with a mop of orange hair behind a counter. Since her Scroll seemed to act up lately, it was probably easiest to just ask her where to find the lecture hall where the orientation speech would take place before she finally could attend to do real doctor's work.

"Excuse me.", the white-haired girl asked politely, "Can you tell me where I can find the lecture hall where all new med students have to gather for the orientation?"

"Sure thing, shorty. Nora's got your back.", the woman behind the counter chirped enthusiastically and Weiss scowled at the nickname, mostly because the person behind the counter was probably about her size, "Go through the door on the right, then down the corridor. Elevator to the third floor, then one of these big double-doors with the ornated handles right in front of you."

"Thanks a lot.", Weiss responded and tried to hide her grudge against the nickname. Then she took off to the lecture hall.

"So you're one of the newbies, huh?", the orange-haired girl asked, "If so, welcome to Beacon!"

Weiss just gave her a disdainful huff as she made her way through the door.

'If everybody here is similar to the two dolts I've already met, one even working here, my two years at the BGH are going to be awful!', the white-haired girl thought, 'So much about _well-educated and sophisticated people_... Let's just hope that not all of my future co-workers are as disturbing as the person I just met.'

* * *

At least, the orientation speech passed by without any further annoyances to Weiss. Her fellow students (which she assumed were _the best of the best_ ) listened disciplined to the referrals of some of the doctors and even the head lawyer, a man named James Ironwood. Then, when the orientation was almost over, the chief of medicine took the floor. He was a tall, bespectacled man with short, gray hair and was wearing a green-tinted, elegant suit under his white lab coat. He also had some kind of cane with him, even though it doesn't seem that he had a motor impairment.

"I'll try to keep this brief...", he started mysteriously and adjusted his glasses, "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge... to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the healing of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose... direction... You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this hospital will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Then, as soon as he had arrived, he left already, leaving a confused auditorium behind.

'What the hell was that about?', Weiss thought irritated, 'We all know our purpose, otherwise, we wouldn't be here. And isn't the right knowledge all we need to cure a patient?'

* * *

After the orientation speech, all students received their pagers and a lot of information: About their schedules, the dorms and their locations, the curfews, and so on – stuff Weiss already knew about. But the most interesting thing they were told was to which departments they were going to be sent and which attending physicians they were about to shadow for the next two years. The student supervisor told them to change into their scrubs and to wait in the lobby for their attending physician. Then, they were dismissed and Weiss and her fellow students left for the locker rooms.

After they got changed, all med students assembled in the lobby and waited for their attending physicians to pick them up. Some of them were chatting, but since Weiss didn't know anyone, she just took a seat. She had to leave everyone she knew behind, but that didn't really bother her. She had always been the youngest, always skipping grades, always finishing everything earlier than her acquaintances, so she never had time to make friends. She didn't really want to, either. Admittedly, now she was amongst people like herself, ambitious and highly intelligent students ('Not like those peasants at college who were always partying and lazing off...', she thought), but she was too excited about her first day to socialize right now. But there would, most certainly, be enough time left to do that later.

Every few minutes a doctor or resident came into the lobby, called up a name and greeted their student. Then, they took off again, probably for a little tour around the hospital before they were getting started. The numbers were dwindling rapidly and after half an hour there were only two people left: Weiss, and a tall, young man with blonde hair, who had been chatting with a redhead the entire time.

While the blonde was slowly getting nervous, Weiss was getting annoyed. The Schnee family was well-reputed, so everyone that was about to have the _honor_ to meet her shouldn't be running late, even though she was just a student. And, on top of that, she was a prodigy, a nineteen-year-old young woman already in her _damn_ last two years of medical education!

"Heh... looks like the golf kart of our guys had a flat tire.", the blonde guy a few seats away joked and laughed nervously.

"Highly unlikely.", Weiss retorted flatly and looked at her Scroll to check her messages. Maybe someone had informed her about some kind of delay. Again, nothing... worthless device.

"Yeah... you're probably right.", the young man said with a friendly smile but the white-haired girl didn't pay attention to him.

"Umm... well...", he continued, desperately trying to keep this pretty one-sided conversation up, "By the way, my name's..."

"Jaune Arc?", someone suddenly asked. Both med students looked up to face an energetic, young looking man with messy green hair. He held a mug of coffee in his hand and in one of the pockets of his lab coat was a thermos, probably containing the same beverage.

"Oh... that's... that's me!", the blonde guy said and stood up.

"Nice to meet you, young man! My name's Doctor Oobleck.", the green-haired man exclaimed, "Sorry for the delay, there had been an accident that required my assistance. But now we can finally begin, so I hope you're ready to save some lives! Follow me." And without waiting for an answer, he turned around and left the lobby again.

"O-of course!", Jaune replied, then he turned around to face Weiss one more time, "Umm... See you around, I guess. G-good luck." After that, he followed his attending physician. Weiss simply gave him a huff and crossed her arms.

'I can't believe it! Who dares to let a Schnee wait?!', she thought resentful, 'I just hope for my attending physician there was another accident, either busying or involving them.'

Since she had no other choice, she decided to wait a bit more. It couldn't be that they had forgotten about her. Her application had been confirmed and the date was correct, Weiss had double-checked this. So why wouldn't anybody show up? She was a Schnee and a prodigy, and they dared to let her wait... After another fifteen minutes, the white-haired girl finally had enough.

'That does it!', Weiss cursed inwardly, 'I'm going to find them myself!' She went through the files she had received and found the name of her attending physician.

'I don't care if I'm just a med student! I'm a Schnee! And you're going to get an earful, Doctor...', she looked at the sheet of paper, '...Rose!'

* * *

It didn't take Weiss long to find out that her attending physician worked in the ICU today, so the white-haired girl quickly asked her way there. Unfortunately, she had to interact with this weird girl with orange hair behind the counter again to do so, but her anger got her moving. Soon, Weiss found herself at the ICU, but since she didn't know what this Doctor Rose looked like, she had no other choice but to gather more information. There was a nurses' station nearby, occupied by someone with wild, blonde hair. Hopefully, this woman wasn't such a weirdo like the girl in the lobby. With this in mind, Weiss approached the station.

"Excuse me, Miss...", the white-haired girl asked and checked the name tag next to an enormous bust, "...Xiao Long. Weiss Schnee, med student. I'm looking for my attending physician, a person named Rose. Can you help me?"

"Hey, that's my sister Ruby.", the nurse responded with a smile and offered a handshake, "My name's Yang. Nice to meet you and welcome to Beacon."

"Yeah, alright. Thanks.", Weiss said, still a little annoyed, and shook hands with the nurse, "Now, can you tell me where I can find her? She didn't show up in the lobby and now I'm late."

"Oh, sure. No biggie at all.", the blonde reassured her, "Just a moment. She was probably too busy to go get you herself. Always burying herself in work..." Then, she started to rummage through some files.

The entire time, Weiss was tapping her foot rapidly, arms crossed and clenching her teeth. She wanted to yell at the blonde to hurry up but this would be inappropriate and the nurse didn't deserve it. She seemed to be nice and far less annoying than the other people Weiss had met so far. And, of course, the white-haired girl wanted her anger to hit the right person.

"Sooo... first day, huh?", Yang asked with a grin while she ordered the chaos on her desk, "Nervous already?"

"Hardly.", Weiss responded flatly, "I was valedictorian everywhere I graduated, so I guess I'll be fine."

"Vale-whatexactly?", Yang asked confused and looked up.

"Urgh... I always had the best grades and was always chosen to deliver the farewell statement at the graduation ceremonies.", Weiss explained with a sigh. Maybe this nurse was kind of nice but most certainly far away from _well-educated and sophisticated_.

"Oh. Congratulations, I guess.", the blonde responded and continued browsing her files. But then, in the corner of her eye, she saw the person she was looking for.

"Ha! There she is.", Yang explained and pointed to the left, "Second bed from the right. The little one with the hoodie. Can't miss her."

"Thanks a lot. I hope she has a good explanation for why she ditched me.", Weiss said and was about to leave, but was called back by Yang.

"Umm... just a warning...", the blonde nurse began, "She's in a, well, pretty foul mood for whatever reason, so just be a little careful and don't take what she says too personally. Ruby can be a bit... difficult... when she's _that_ way."

"So, _she_ is in a bad mood?", Weiss grunted, "Well, that makes two of us!" Then she left the blonde, fuming.

"Well, fuck...", Yang sighed, "This won't end well."

* * *

Weiss strode down the corridor, her anger fresh and unspent. This Doctor Rose was about to get an earful! She was a Schnee! Her family was famous! Her father was the CEO of one of the most powerful companies in all of Remnant, if not _the_ most powerful! No one had the right to treat her the way she had been! This woman better had a good explanation for this!

But when she spotted her attending physician, she immediately came to a halt. It was a girl about her size, with black and red hair, in a white lab coat, its collar hidden by a red hood. Weiss recognized her immediately and a shiver ran down her spine.

'You've got to be FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Weiss... Karma's a bitch.
> 
> Whew... and that's the first chapter. Since I have little to no idea about most of the medical stuff, this thing needs a lot of research time. Therefore, please expect a lot of errors, but don't expect regular updates for this one, even though I have a lot of things in mind for it. This story is mostly something I write when I have writer's block on my first one, 'I could... if you just let me' (Check this one out as well, if you haven't already). Writing an AU a nice change of pace, but I'm still primarily concentrating on my 'first born'.
> 
> You may have noticed that Ozpin's speech is adopted almost one-to-one from the original series. I thought that it would make as much sense to this AU than it did in the original RWBY. I also liked the ending of it, assuming it will take more than medical knowledge to be a doctor like it's always portrayed in these hospital shows.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think of this one and leave a comment. Since I'm always eager to improve myself and to expand my knowledge, any constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> See ya all next chapter. Best regards,  
> LCS


	2. A Rough First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew... finally, I got this thing done... Sorry for the long wait.
> 
> Well, it seems like Weiss got herself into some trouble. Hopefully, that doesn't influence her medical career. But Ruby will probably be forgiving, won't she? Let's find out.
> 
> Warning! A lot of heavy OOC ahead. To avoid any hate and explaining myself in the comments over and over again, I just want to tell you that everything happens for a reason in this story, but the explanation of it will have to wait until later chapters (probably the fourth or fifth) to built suspense.

Oh no! Oh, _please_ , Dust, no! Okay... that was bad. Really, really bad. Why the hell had it to be her, out of all people in Remnant? And why the hell was this girl a doctor in the first place?! She had to be about Weiss' age, maybe even younger. And she was a doctor? A real one? No med student in clinical, no resident, but a real doctor?! How was that even possible?!

'Okay, Weiss. Here's sense of tact in great demand.', the white-haired girl thought, 'She's probably mad at you because of the scolding she had gotten earlier this day. But on the other hand, it was her fault that we collided this morning. Therefore, there should be no reason for her to pick at me now. Anyway, we have to work together for a whole two years, so I'll just try to be nicer this time and everything will work out just fine. C'mon, Weiss. Let's put that Schnee-charm into action.' Yet, she still felt a little uneasy when she approached the crimson-haired girl.

"Umm... Do-Doctor Rose?", Weiss asked carefully.

'What are you doing?!', she scolded herself inwardly, 'You're a Schnee. And a Schnee doesn't stutter, damn it!'

"Well... Hello, Doctor Rose.", she began anew, this time a lot more charming, "I'm Weiss Schnee. I'm your medical student and..."

"Yeah... whatevs...", Ruby cut her off without even looking up from her clipboard, "Listen here, sunshine. Rule number one: All med students are slaves. Been there myself, not gonna treat you any different, so be prepared for a rough first day. You're gonna do histories and physical examinations, admission orders... all the boring stuff I hardly care about. But first you're gonna grab us both a coffee, 'cause it's gonna be a looong, looo..."

She was just about to finish her rant when she finally looked up from her clipboard and turned around to face her new student. Her expression immediately changed to that of someone who opened a pint of ice cream from the freezer of a community kitchen, only to find it empty.

"Huh... it's you...", she noted dryly.

"Yes, it's me..." Weiss responded, trying to sound resolute. There suddenly was a very, veeery awkward silence between them.

"Listen, umm... about earlier...", Weiss tried to explain, "I didn't mean to... I mean, I was in a hurry and..."

'Wait! A Schnee doesn't apologize either... It hadn't been your fault. Get yourself together!', she thought immediately.

"I mean... Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?", she finished, _maybe_ a little too cocky.

"And aren't you a little _bitchy_ to let any sane person allow you to interact with any kind of patient?", Ruby asked plainly and raised the left of her raven eyebrows.

"Wha... I... how dare you?!", Weiss retorted angrily.

"My point exactly.", Ruby said emotionless and returned her attention to her clipboard, "By the way: You're pretty young yourself to be a med student. Not that I care. I mean... who am I to talk..."

"I'll have you known that I was an extraordinary student and finished everything in my academic career pretty early.", Weiss explained with excessive pride, "Top of the class, _obviously_." Wrong answer...

"Listen here, _Ice Queen_ : We're not here to adulate ourselves.", Ruby replied with a glare, silver eyes like daggers, "We're here to save lives, or maybe just to put off the evil hour for some time... To make myself clear: I don't need a med student totally absorbed in her _extraordinary qualifications_ (she put air quotes on that and used a rather mocking voice). I need someone who _only_ triples my work without being such a pain in the ass that I only have to take two sleeping pills tonight instead of ten. And I hope that, when... excuse me, _if_... you finally become a doctor yourself, you've internalized this procedure straight to the point, so, if it's your turn to train a med student, you won't need ten sleeping pills instead of two at that time and aren't rushed to this hospital because of it, so I won't have to take care of you and be, again, forced to take ten sleeping pills instead of two."

Weiss was stunned. She had never expected such hostility from a girl, presumably barely eighteen, who had told herself just a few hours ago that she was immensely sorry about the unlucky incident she had caused and would make it up to her. It was like this girl was a completely different person since that scenario on the campus. But (because her medical career depended on it) Weiss knew she mustn't show her distraction.

"I understand.", she uttered through clenched teeth, "I'm sorry. I'll keep that in mind, Doctor Rose." Hopefully, her attending physician wouldn't notice the obvious repulsion her body signalized when she tried to put up a more friendly tone...

"That's awesome! You hate me already.", Ruby chirped with a devious grin as she returned her attention to her files, "This is gonna be a whooole lot of fun..."

Weiss only gulped at that ominous statement. How the hell did things turn out like that?!

* * *

It clearly hadn't been an understatement when her attending physician had told Weiss that it would be a rough first day, on more than one level. To the white-haired girl, it seemed that she had to do thrice as much as her fellow students, who she saw now and then in the ICU, drinking coffee and chatting with the nurses and doctors while doing paperwork. This was probably how it was used to be here: a med student on their first day, doing some work but still having a good time so they wouldn't be scared off. Weiss didn't have this luxury because her pager was going berserk every few minutes.

But it wasn't just the horrendous workload that wore her out. Okay, these things wore her out physically, but that didn't bother her _that_ much. What really got under her skin were the constant verbal assaults – that she was just a nuisance to her attending physician, that she had to be a lot more ambitious to be of at least some kind of value, that she would never become a doctor with that attitude of hers... And these were the things that wouldn't go away after a good night's sleep.

'This is just horrible...', she thought after literally collapsing on top of a nurses' station's counter. She already had a terrible headache, a queasy feeling in her stomach... what would be next? Loss of hair? Acid reflux? Circulatory problems? And this was just her first day! The white-haired girl had never thought that becoming a real doctor would be this difficult. But then again, she was quite certain that she had a real monster as her attending physician.

"Hey... you alright?", a gentle voice asked.

Weiss almost jumped out of her skin as she was addressed and shrieked: "I wasn't taking a break, I was just inspecting these files!"

"Whoa! Easy there...", a young blonde man said carefully as he tried to calm her down, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Weiss needed a few moments to reorientate herself but then she recognized the guy that took these sweet, well-earned twelve seconds of sleep from her.

"Y-you're that Jaune-guy, right?", she responded, trying not to sound like she was at the end of her tether.

"Yeah... I made that awful joke about the golf kart, remember?", he said with a chuckle, "So, umm... how are you holding up?"

"Decent, I guess...", Weiss replied, suddenly pretty thankful that somebody who wasn't a complete lunatic wanted to talk to her, "My attending physician is pretty... challenging, if I may say so. How about you?"

"Well, y'know... lots of stuff to do.", Jaune said with a friendly smile, "I only get half of the things my attending physician talks about because he can say about two hundred words a second... but I think I'm doing a pretty decent job as well. Getting test results, making admission orders... mostly paperwork... you know the drill."

Weiss wanted to agree, but her own _drill_ consisted of running through this hospital like a Vacuan on Lightning Dust, trying to meet her barely manageable deadlines, getting yelled at afterwards and repeating the whole procedure.

"Well, having Doctor Oobleck as my attending physician is quite a handful, but it's not that bad, I guess...", the blonde med student continued, "How about you? Who did you get?"

Even though Weiss was grateful to have the chance to talk to someone normal for a change, she wasn't really fond of conversing right now (probably too exhausted, too), but she managed to croak out one word: "Rose..."

"You are shadowing Doctor Rose?!", Jaune exclaimed enthusiastically, "Whoa! That's amazing! She's a phenomenon! I mean, I've only heard about her from some guys working here when I was in pre-med and pre-clinical, but she's like... super-awesome! She's one of the best internists and diagnosticians, and she's also assisting in surgery sometimes. This girl can do almost everything in terms of medicine to some extent. And they say she's about our age. Probably twenty-something or so, I don't know exactly. You must be ecstatic that you got her as your attending physician, right? I'm sooo jealous right now!"

"Believe me, Jaune...", Weiss began, exhausted, "If you were to work with her, you wouldn't..." The white-haired girl was interrupted by her pager. She really didn't want to check it, but she knew she had to. The interface only showed the message: "Get movin! NS1 ICU!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to get going.", Weiss said hastily and gathered her belongings, "I, umm, guess I'll see you around. Bye." With these words, she disappeared fast enough that Jaune didn't have any time for a reply.

* * *

"Urgh... I can't believe I have to deal with that snobby, bratty, arrogant, self-absorbed, annoying, cocky, cheeky, good-for-nothing low-life...", Ruby sighed as she collapsed on top of the nurses' station's counter at the ICU.

"Running out of adjectives already?", Yang asked with a smug grin as she typed away on the keyboard in front of her, "I thought you'd be a little more creative, sis."

"Shut it already.", Ruby spat back, but it lacked her usual energy, "You have no idea what I'm going through right now."

"Geez, Rubes, the girl's trying her best.", the blonde tried to appease her sister, "You even let her do tasks newbies shouldn't do on their first day... or month... and she didn't back down. I know being a med student was pretty tough on you, but you don't have to make Weiss' life the living hell because of it."

"You also have no idea what I've _been_ through when I was a med student.", Ruby stated dryly, "If you'd have been anywhere near as smart enough to go to college you'd have a say in this matter. But since this wasn't the case, you just...". She cut herself off and immediately gave her sister a somewhat apologetic look shortly after. The blonde only raised an eyebrow.

"Umm... s-sorry...", the crimsonette finished and looked down again.

"It's okay. I know you can't do anything about that.", Yang reassured her sister, "You're going to apologize anyway when _she's_ back."

"Probably...", Ruby admitted, "You know I... _love you_ (she croaked that out as if the words left a sour taste in her mouth)... but I'm just not in the mood to exchange sentiments. Just live with me and my mood swings and stop your fucking teasing about... y'know what."

"As if it had been any different.", Yang chuckled and gave her sister a thumbs-up, which caused the crimsonette to smile, if only weakly, "Anyway, just try to be a little bit nicer to your med student. She's trying really hard to meet your _excessive_ expectations."

"Fine... I'll try... _trying_...", Ruby responded, but it didn't sound very honest.

"That's... well, kind of what I wanted to hear.", the blonde nurse chuckled a bit, then she added, barely audible, "She's somewhat like you a few years ago."

"What was that?", the crimsonette replied challenging, even though she didn't hear exactly what her sister had mumbled into her non-existing beard.

"Oh, nothing...", Yang responded with a smug grin, "Nothing at all."

* * *

The sisterly _bonding session_ was interrupted by Weiss, who approached them as fast as she could.

"Sorry, Doctor Rose...", she exclaimed out of breath, "I... I got the files you asked for. I also have the patient's history from the guy with the respiratory problems."

"Okay.", Ruby replied plainly as she snatched the clipboard out of Weiss' hands, then she added, "Do you also have the meds for Mister Brick? He really likes the stuff that keeps him from dying, y'know."

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry. I... I was busy finishing the other tasks, so I...", Weiss started but was interrupted shortly after.

"Well, the thing is...", Ruby said, "We usually do the tasks with lives attached to them first. So if we can't complete everything in time, we just have to say "Sorry, I'm right at it." instead of "Well, shit... patient kicked the bucket." This, my dear, is called _priorities_. If you're not familiar with the term, I'll buy you a dictionary. Then you can also look up _failure_ , and if you look reeeally, really closely, you'll find a picture of yourself right next to it." Then she started to proceed towards the pharmacy.

"Way to go, sis...", Yang sighed and returned her attention to the computer screen.

"Well, excuse me!", Weiss exclaimed as she tried to keep step with her attending physician, "Just why do you think I'm so useless? I'm doing at least twice as much as every other med student I've met so far. You have no idea what I am capable of. I'm a prodigy! I finished high school when I was fourteen, and..."

"I'm pretty sure we would've been super-besties if we were to attend the same school.", Ruby interrupted her again without slowing down, "Did you like eight-year-olds back then?"

Weiss wanted to retort something, but the crimsonette continued mercilessly, not even bothering to turn around.

"I needed just three months to finish high school. I finished pre-med when I was ten, med school when I was thirteen, I have an IQ that isn't measurable with a normal test procedure.", Ruby explained, "Everything you are _capable of_ (again, the mocking voice) I did without adulating myself over and over again when I was about half your age. So I'm sooo sorry that I'm not impressed by your _extraordinary qualifications_ (and again...). Why don't you just stop telling me how awesome you are and do your _fucking_ _job_?" The last sentence was spat with such hostility that Weiss immediately came to a halt. Ruby noticed that, slowed her pace and turned around, her face full of disapproval.

"I'm going to get the meds I need. In the meantime, please try not to endanger my patients' lives any further. Do you understand, Snowflake, or should I write it down for you, maybe with little hearts as tittles?", Ruby said coldheartedly as she turned away again and made her way through the ICU.

Weiss just stood there in silence and tried to hold back her tears.

"I... hate you...", she whispered as she stifled a sob.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... poor Weiss. Looks like her next two years at the BGH are going to be a handful. Also, Ruby's a real bitch in this one, am I right? As said, there's a reason for her behaving that way. I promise it'll be explained later on, so please be patient and don't pick me apart in the comments.
> 
> Anyway, constructive criticism is always welcome. If you enjoyed the chapter or have any remarks, feel free to leave a comment. The next update's probably going to take a while again since researching medical stuff is pretty difficult. Stay tuned. I'll see you around.


	3. One Step Forward, One Step Back

The beeping of her Scroll woke Weiss up from her peaceful slumber. Memories, no... more like war flashbacks from her last day immediately came back to her mind. She wanted to be a doctor, wholeheartedly, but what she had suffered yesterday was almost too much to bear. She buried her face back into her pillow, trying to block out the annoying beeping noise, but to no avail. She had to get up, otherwise, she'd be running late for classes.

The lectures this Tuesday forenoon were interesting, but the white-haired girl couldn't quite concentrate. Her mind constantly spun around the afternoon and her cruel attending physician. Wait... was she afraid of her? It was just a little girl, after all. Okay, on the other hand, she could (and probably would) make her next two years utterly miserable, and there was nothing Weiss could do about that. The last lecture of today was about to end soon and then her life would be the living hell again. She let out a defeated sigh and her head fell on her desk.

"Are you alright?", someone suddenly addressed her.

"Huh?", the white-haired girl mumbled and looked back up again. Next to her sat a girl with fiery red hair worn in a ponytail, a concerned look on her face. Weiss recognized her as the med student this Jaune-guy had been chatting with when they had been waiting in the lobby.

"I asked you if you are okay.", the woman asked again with worry in her green eyes, "You look exhausted."

"No, I'm fine.", the white-haired girl reassured, "Just... had a rough first day, is all."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.", the redhead said with honest sympathy, "Umm... Pyrrha Nikos, by the way."

"Weiss Schnee...", Weiss introduced herself as well.

"Schn... from the Schnee Dust Company?", Pyrrha asked surprised and a bit impressed.

"Uh-huh.", the white-haired girl confirmed with a nod but wasn't in the mood to boast about her family name, or status, or the other things she was so proud of.

"Wow... I never assumed a Schnee would be studying medicine. I always thought you would go to some business school.", the redhead pondered, but then she realized what she just had said, "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you... It's your own life, after all. I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry. Everybody thinks so.", Weiss responded, but the part with the _own life_ left a sour taste in her mouth, "Actually, my brother is going to take over the company someday, not me. I wanted to become a doctor. My father wasn't exactly happy when I told him since I was always such a good student and would've excelled in business school, but since it's a job with a lot of prestige and it would help our family's reputation, he finally relented."

Suddenly, the white-haired girl was taken aback. Why did she tell her new acquaintance all of this? Was she really that miserable that she confided in other people? She had never done this before. Of course, she wanted to socialize with her fellow students, but all she had done so far was mourn her life.

"Sounds like you had a rather rough childhood.", Pyrrha said and put a hand on Weiss' shoulder. Now that was something the white-haired girl really didn't want: pity!

"It wasn't _that_ bad.", she replied and pushed the hand away. A blatant lie! It had been pretty shitty. The pressure to achieve, the lack of appreciation (or kindness in general) and... other things. Weiss' fingers unconsciously traced over the scar marring her left eye at this thought. Why had her father kept his ring on that one time?

Pyrrha noticed her fellow student's sudden mood swing, so she decided to change the topic and maybe help her with her current situation.

"So, umm... you said you had a rough first day.", she began, "What was that about? Too much work? A bad emergency? Problems with your attending physician?"

"The latter.", the white-haired girl admitted, "She's a real... bitch."

"I'm sorry to hear that.", Pyrrha replied again, "May I ask you who it is you're shadowing?"

"Doctor Ruby Rose.", Weiss retorted flatly. Now she was waiting for all the praise her fellow med student had for this sadistic little shit and, of course, she wasn't disappointed.

"Wow. I've heard a lot about her in pre-clinical. She's quite a big deal here at Beacon.", the redhead said, "People say she's the youngest person ever that passed the medical board exams. It's just a rumor, though."

"That doesn't change the fact that she expects the work of ten people from me and tells me that I'm completely useless every time I can't meet her unaccomplishable expectations, accompanied by a lot of colorful insults.", the white-haired girl sighed.

"Oh, my... I never thought she would be like that.", Pyrrha exclaimed surprised, "Everyone had told me she's a pretty nice person. Well, maybe her behavior from yesterday was just a test... some kind of initiation rite... and today's going to be totally different."

"I highly doubt that.", Weiss responded, "But I guess that's the only thing I can hope for, or else my next two years will leave a lot of mental scars." 'More than I already have...', she added in thought.

"Don't worry. I'm sure everything will turn out fine.", Pyrrha tried to reassure the white-haired girl, "Anyway, if you need help with anything or just want to talk, feel free to ask." She then gave her a comforting smile.

"Thanks... I guess.", Weiss said.

After this conversation, the bell rang and the lecture ended. Their professor, a man named Peter Port, with a funny mustache and probably in his mid-fifties, was about to finish his story about a mission he had attended in his time as a military surgeon. It was kind of interesting, but mostly an anecdote than an actual lecture. Yet, the conclusion of his tale would have to wait since now all med students had a brief lunch break and after that, they had to meet up with their attending physicians for some practical tasks.

Weiss already knew that she wouldn't be able to eat something... or at least to keep it down. What was an adequate word to describe the way she was feeling?

Nervousness?

Discomfort?

Panic?

...

Yup, definitely _panic_.

* * *

There were a million other places the white-haired girl would rather be right now: the dentist, a giant blender, her father's office after she had gotten a B+... Yet, it had to be the nurses' station of the ICU. Doctor Rose was nowhere to be seen, but Yang was there as always. The blonde nurse was slacking off a bit, as usual, chatting with another woman with long, black hair and a black bow in it. They didn't seem to notice her yet, so Weiss caught some scraps of the conversation.

"...switching a lot lately..."

"...probably stressed out..."

"...yeah, new student..."

"...next session's next week..."

The white-haired girl had no idea what they were talking about, but they looked concerned. It was probably about a doctor or resident since they were obviously talking about someone with a new med student. But Weiss had other things to worry about, like how to survive another day with her sadistic attending physician.

"Good afternoon.", she greeted the blonde and the raven-haired girl, "Weiss Schnee, reporting for duty."

"Hey there, Weiss.", Yang replied nonchalantly, "May I introduce Doctor Belladonna to you? She's the psychiatrist at the BGH."

"Please forget what Blondie said immediately and just call me Blake.", the raven-haired woman said with a friendly smile and offered a handshake, "I'm not one for formalities."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor... umm, Blake. You may just call me Weiss as well.", the white-haired girl began and shook the offered hand. She hesitated a bit but then continued: "I... umm... couldn't help but notice you've been talking about someone who has some problems with their med student. I'm sorry for eavesdropping and I didn't mean to. I don't want any details, I'm just curious: Does this happen, well, often here... No need to call anyone by name. I know about medical secrecy."

"Most of the younger doctors ask for an appointment about handling this new situation.", Blake explained casually, ignoring a subtle glance from Yang, "It's a new thing to them tied with a lot of responsibility, so some of them come around for a session or two... just to get some advice. Some come to me, some just ask the chief resident about it. It's more like a... consultation than a real therapy session. The academics aren't all as fucked up as the media might suggest." The last sentence was spoken with a small chuckle to lighten the mood about the topic.

"Well, thanks for this information and your honesty.", Weiss said with a polite bow of her head, "Maybe Doctor Rose should make an appointment about 'How not to treat your med student like dirt just because you're better than them.' Umm... sorry. No offense, Yang! It's just..."

"Don't sweat it.", the blonde nurse said with a grin, even though it looked a bit forced, "I know my sister can be a bit... difficult sometimes, but she just needs a little slap on the wrist when she gets carried away. She _most certainly_ doesn't need therapy."

At her last statement, the blonde exchanged a meaningful look with Blake but, fortunately, the white-haired girl didn't notice it.

* * *

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. All of a sudden and out of nowhere, Ruby showed up next to Weiss at the nurses' station. The white-haired girl almost jumped out of her skin, even though this was the place they had picked for their reunion on this day. Yet, the attitude of the crimsonette caught Weiss COMPLETELY off guard.

"Hey there, Weiss.", Ruby chirped optimistically and full of energy, "Ready to save some lives?"

"Umm...", was all the med student could choke out, "I-I guess..."

"Awesome!", Ruby tweeted and started rambling, "I have a whole day of fun activities planned out for us. I mean, not _fun_ exactly since we probably have to deal with a lot of bad stuff, but it's going to be exciting and you're going to learn so many cool things. I'll make sure that you'll become the best med student in your grade... or ever! That would be a nice addition to my résumé as well, hehe. Anyway, I'm gonna grab us a coffee and then we'll get this show on the road! Cream and/or sugar?"

The crimsonette looked at Weiss expectantly, waiting for an answer like a puppy who had been promised a treat.

"Umm... Black coffee's just fine.", the white-haired girl managed to say, still taken aback.

"Seems like you're a strong advocate of 'This stuff doesn't need to taste good as long as it helps', like Blakey here.", Ruby chuckled and the mentioned woman rolled her eyes, "One pitch black, coming up! Seeyouinfive!" Then, she took off like a bullet.

Weiss was dumbfounded. What the hell was that supposed to mean now?! Where was this sadistic, mean little SHIT she had to deal with the whole last day? She exchanged a confused look with Blake and Yang, but they only shrugged and returned to their work.

'Something's seriously wrong with this girl...', the white-haired girl thought.

* * *

Everything about this whole situation was strange to Weiss. Barely 24 hours ago she was kicked around this hospital by an evil tormentor, and now she was following this basket of puppies and rainbows? And both of them were the same person? That seemed impossible. Were they twins? Were there two Doctor Roses, one good, one evil, both full-fledged doctors about her own age? Okay, that seemed a little farfetched, but the white-haired girl was ready to believe everything by now.

Maybe she wasn't at Beacon at all at the moment. Maybe she'd wake up any minute back in Atlas and one of her servants would tell her it's time to leave for her internship. Then the real thing would start: She'd fly to Beacon and there wasn't a single Doctor Rose in the first place.

Just like yesterday, Weiss' workload was pretty big, but manageable this time. It also helped that she wasn't yelled at every few minutes. Quite the contrary, everything she did was showered with praise, even getting some files from the nurses' station. What would be next: would her attending physician organize a parade after Weiss had gotten her some coffee?

Okay, this version of Doctor Rose was pretty annoying as well, but at least Weiss wasn't treated like dirt anymore. The crimson-haired girl apologized over and over again for her behavior yesterday. She told Weiss something about PMS and that she can be a real little shit at that time of the month, but promised to stop taking it out on her the next time. The med student didn't find that explanation very convincing, yet, she was glad that she wasn't yelled at anymore, so she just let it through on the nod.

"So tell me, Weiss.", the young doctor started a conversation as they walked through the ICU late that day, "Why do you want to become a doctor?"

"Well, as you might know, my family is pretty famous, therefore, we all have a reputation to uphold.", the white-haired girl began, "And even though I am not really interested in running my father's company one day, I had to pick a profession that would be adequate for someone of my upbringing. So I thought, why not become a doctor? That's about it." Of course, she withheld the true reason.

"That's an... interesting answer... I guess...", Ruby said, deep in thought, "But you probably chose it because it was the best way to help society within your own possibilities, too, am I right?" She then gave her med student a sweet smile.

"I guess that... applies as well.", Weiss responded. That suggestion was right on the money. Of course, she wanted to help people. She wanted to become a doctor because she didn't want anyone to have to live a miserable life... a life she had lived so far. She wanted it because she wanted to give people a second chance...

The med student pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind. She had already whined about these things at two of her fellow students and she had no intentions to start doing it again – at her attending physician, on top of that – and especially because this girl was responsible for a good portion of her misery, after Weiss had thought that things were finally going to be different now.

But this Doctor Rose was completely unlike the little devil she had met yesterday. She seemed to be nice and also genuinely interested in her. Maybe Pyrrha had been right and this whole first day was just some fucked up initiation rite the crimsonette had come up with. Maybe Ruby had just been testing Weiss' mental and physical resilience to see if she was qualified for the job beforehand. Maybe she wasn't a bad person, after all.

And maybe, she could be a person to confide in someday.

"So, I saw in your files that you're from Atlas.", the crimsonette continued, "How's it there?"

Okay, but not _today_!

"It's... nice, I guess... Pretty cold, all the time.", Weiss answered, trying to think about something neutral to say to satisfy Ruby's curiosity, "And, as you might know, there is..."

Ruby's beeper interrupted her, something the white-haired girl was somewhat thankful for. As the young doctor read the message, she raised one of her eyebrows in confusion... and maybe a hint of worry.

"Oh, I'm really sorry to interrupt you and I'm really curious about your life in Atlas, but there's something I need to resolve immediately.", the crimson-haired girl said hastily, turned around and went to the other direction.

"Umm... can I come?", Weiss asked carefully. Her attending physician seemed a little flustered. Ruby stopped for a second and thought about it.

"I just have to talk to a patient, but if you want to, that's fine with me.", the crimsonette finally responded, "Just... stay out of the patient's room. These discussions can get a bit... heated sometimes."

'Heated? A simple discussion with a patient?', the med student thought. Now she was really curious.

* * *

Weiss stood at the counter of another nurses' station, while Ruby was talking to the patient in a separate room. The med student could see them through a window and hear their conversation through the door that her attending physician had left ajar.

From all Weiss had heard so far, this whole discussion was about the continuation of a therapy. The patient, a woman in her late thirties named Mrs. Scarlett, had a bad case of pancreatic cancer and had undergone a lot of chemo- and later radiotherapy sessions in order to shrink the tumors for an operation. However, the results hadn't been as good as expected.

Therefore, the patient was desperate; desperate enough to refuse any further treatment. Even though the tumors had shrunken a little, the physical and emotional strain was too much for the woman to continue. Yet, Ruby tried to convince her otherwise.

"I know we didn't make as much progress as we had expected, but please, trust me.", the crimsonette persuaded (unsuccessfully), "If we continue the treatment the tumors will shrink enough to be operable. Then we'll schedule the Whipple procedure and everything's gonna be fine."

"Doctor Rose, please...", Mrs. Scarlett said, a little sob in her voice, "I can't take it anymore. Even if you're right, the operation will probably kill me. I'm just too weak... and tired... and I... I can't..."

"Pleeeaaase.", Ruby almost begged, "We can beat this thing. Just... carry on a little longer. I know that the operation is a little risky but Doctor Branwen is the best surgeon in all of Remnant. He can do this. But we need to do a few more chemos to shrink the tumors."

The crimsonette _had_ to convince her patient. She knew that the therapies were hard, but there was no other way. She just hoped that her motivation attempts and the BGH's reputation would be enough to change the woman's mind. However, her hopes were crushed.

"I can't, Doctor Rose... I just... can't...", Mrs. Scarlett sobbed, "Just... just give me something to reduce the pain and let me go home to my family. I... I don't want to spend my last days in a hospital bed."

The woman wiped away a stray tear and looked at the young doctor, hopelessness in her eyes.

"I beg you, please respect this last wish. Okay?", she finished.

Weiss saw everything in the corner of her eye. It almost looked like her attending physician was on the verge of tears. The white-haired girl herself had a queasy feeling in her stomach. The whole scenario grieved her deeply. This was probably one of the hardest things to experience as a doctor: the feeling of being completely helpless.

Then, something odd happened. All of a sudden, Ruby started to stagger. She held onto a wall to prevent herself from falling over with one hand, the other one grabbed her head as if she was in pain. Weiss was about to enter the patient's room to ask if everything was alright with her attending physician, but after a few seconds, it seemed that the crimson-haired doctor was back to normal. She regained her footing and straightened her posture again.

"Okay.", Ruby finally said with a sigh, "I'll respect your choice."

"Thank you for understanding...", the patient said, still with a little sob in her voice.

"But you're going to tell your husband and kids that you're going to die yourself. I won't do your dirty work.", the doctor continued matter-of-factly, "You'll tell your family that mommy was too cowardly to go through with her treatment. Or you could just lie to them until they figure it out at your funeral. I don't give a damn. A lot of kids grow up without a mother."

"Wha-what?!", Mrs. Scarlett blurted out after hearing her doctor's words.

"Hopefully, they won't think you just want to die because you're tired of them.", Ruby pondered, "You know what? Let's just call them and break the news. Y'know... a stitch in time saves nine."

"Tha-that's not what I...", the older woman sobbed, a terrified expression on her face, as tears started to stream down her face.

"You said I should respect your last wish. I do. And now I'm even helping you with your final arrangements.", the crimsonette said emotionless, "Anyway, I'll go get some files you have to fill out, so nobody thinks it was me who killed you. You can make the call while I'm out. Don't want to interrupt this _family bonding session_ after all. Since it's one of the last ones." With these words, she left the patient's room, slamming the door shut and leaving the now uncontrollably crying woman behind.

* * *

"Oh my gosh. That was... horrible!", Weiss gasped as her attending physician returned to her side at the nurses' station. Even she, who had grown up in an uncaring family, thought that this had been incredibly cold-hearted.

"Fuck it. Now she'll think about this whole situation differently since I mentioned her family. In five minutes I'll go back in, tell her to fight for the people she loves and all this emotional bullshit, then she will change her mind and agree to the next chemo.", Ruby deadpanned, "I hate it when this happens. It's like these people _want_ to die. Even though there's a chance that they won't."

"Okay, I get that, but did you really need to... totally crush her? The things you said, especially the ones about her family...", the white-haired girl began, still concerned about the crying woman.

Suddenly, the doctor faced her with an annoyed, yet a bit tired expression and sternly said: "How about you shut your face and get back to work before I'll exchange you for something useful at the next pawn shop." Then, she grabbed a clipboard and strode off without paying further attention to her med student or the devastated patient. Weiss was left behind, totally dumbfounded again.

'What the hell is wrong with her?', the white-haired girl thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got to finish this one. Admittedly, I only wrote on this fic when I had a bit of a writer's block, but still. Picking the disease for Mrs. Scarlett was pretty difficult since I have little to no knowledge about medical things, but fortunately, I have a pal who studies this stuff.
> 
> By the way, since it came up in the comments: The ages of the characters aren't canon. Ruby's 18, Weiss 19, every other med student is in his/her early twenties and Yang and Blake are in their late mid-twenties (maybe 27 or something). Can't let everybody be a genius, after all, and Blake has an advanced degree. If I introduce any new characters, I'll try to clarify their age beforehand, since it most certainly won't be canon.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter. The story might still be a bit weird, but we're about to come to know why Ruby is the way she is. Next chapter will probably have to wait till next year since it'll be pretty long and my focus is still on 'I could... if you just let me'. If you don't read this one, then Merry Christmas and a happy new year. See ya next chapter.


	4. Ruby and Ruby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last... I finished the chapter. Does anybody still read this? If so, we're finally going to get to the promised reveal about Ruby's condition, and her past, and the rest of the other stuff so this story won't seem completely weird anymore. So brace yourself. Some parts are still going to be pretty harsh... and sad... but some are also heartwarming.

Even as the week went on, the crimson-haired girl remained a complete mystery to Weiss. The last hour of her Tuesday shift, her attending physician was the sadistic bitch again, yelling at her and treating her terribly. At first, the white-haired girl thought she was behaving like this because of her patient with pancreatic cancer, but Wednesday wasn't any different. Then, however, she was greeted by the happy and bubbly girl from the start of her Tuesday shift on Thursday. Again, the crimsonette came up with some fragile excuses but Weiss didn't believe her one bit. Yet, she kept her mouth shut – at least Doctor Rose was manageable when she was in this mood. The white-haired girl had no idea what caused these weird mood swings, but she was always too busy to ask anyone about it.

Time went by and suddenly, it was Friday. Weiss tried to concentrate on the lectures and spent as little time thinking about Ruby as possible. Her attending physician was a complete wildcard, so there was no use in wondering about her mood today.

'Maybe Yang and Doctor Belladonna were talking about her that Tuesday, after all.', the white-haired girl thought as she took notes, 'There's no way this girl _doesn't_ have any mental issues. Admittedly, father has his freakouts too, but he doesn't act like a freaking cuddly blanket half of the time.'

Soon, the last lecture of the day ended and all med students left for lunch break. Weiss also went to the cafeteria as always, this time even going so far to order a salad. She might not be able to eat something proper but at least her stomach didn't close itself completely anymore because of her nervousness. The white-haired girl called this progress.

Before Weiss could find a quiet table for her to enjoy her lunch in peace, she heard somebody calling her name. She looked around and saw a huge blonde mane, the owner grinning and waving at her, then pointing to the chair right next to her. Since it would be pretty impolite to turn this invitation down, the med student made her way to Yang's table. Unfortunately, the orange-haired girl from the hospital's lobby ('Nora or something...', Weiss thought.) was sitting at it, too, as well as a young man with long, black hair and a single magenta streak on the left side.

"Hey there, Weiss.", Yang greeted her acquaintance the moment she was within earshot, "Have a seat."

"Hey, you're the shorty from the first day.", Nora chirped, "Good to see you again. How're you holding up so far?"

"Decent, I guess.", Weiss answered and sat down, trying not to mind the annoying nickname again, "Could be better, could be worse..." 'Not much worse, though.', she added in thought.

"You know each other already? Cool.", Yang said, then she gestured to the other person at the table, "Oh, and this is Lie Ren. He's an orderly and also part of our _gang_."

"It's a pleasure to meet you.", the mentioned man said calmly, yet friendly and with a bow of his head.

"The pleasure's all mine.", the white-haired girl responded and bowed her head as well, "Weiss Schnee, student in clinical."

"Weiss is shadowing my sister, y'know.", Yang explained. At this comment, Ren raised an eyebrow.

"My condolences.", he then chuckled, "Ruby can be a real handful sometimes but if you _survive_ her training you'll have a big headstart in your residency, that's for sure."

"Yeah, I figured that much already... especially about the first part.", Weiss sighed, "Speaking of Doctor Rose, how come I've never seen her in the cafeteria so far?" Not that she was fond of the idea of running into her here anyway.

"Oh, she doesn't eat that much at work, so she rarely visits the cafeteria.", Yang answered between two bites of her meatloaf, "She works most of the time she's here and lives off coffee and candy bars from the vending machines. Also, she isn't very good with crowds."

'I wonder why?', the white-haired girl thought sarcastically.

"Ruby had always needed extra time to warm up to people and gets pretty moody under stress, even worse the more there are.", Yang explained further, "I guess that's the reason she acts so weird around you, too. If you continue to work with her, I'm pretty sure she'll stop with the extremes and become more normal."

"I really want to believe you. But... Well, it's just that...", Weiss sighed but eventually bit back her question about Ruby's mental state of health, "Urgh, nevermind." Ascribing a mental illness to her attending physician in front of so many people, apparently her friends on top of that and one of them even related to the girl, was probably a bad idea.

"Don't worry, you're one of us now and we have each other's backs. If you got something on your mind, feel free to ask us anything.", Nora tossed in, then she got dramatic all of a sudden, "Our troops' numbers grow every minute and someday we'll take over this hospital. Then, we're one step closer to world domination!" A short, yet manic laugh finished this weird statement and Weiss had no idea how to react to it.

"Don't mind Nora, she's only joking around.", Ren simply said, "At least I hope so... Anyway, you'll get used to it."

"Yeah.", Yang seconded with a wide grin, "Believe me, two weeks tops and you won't notice our weird quirks anymore. Maybe you'll adopt one or two yourself... I mean, what're friends for, right?" She then gave Weiss a comradely nudge with her elbow.

'The question is: Do I really want that?', the white-haired girl asked herself confused.

* * *

After Weiss had finished her meal, she bid goodbye to her new _friends_ and went to the locker room to change, then she made her way to the nurses' station at the ICU. It was still ten minutes to one, so doctor Rose was most certainly not there yet. The absence of a mop of crimson hair at the station confirmed that thought a few moments later.

Since Weiss wasn't allowed to do anything without supervision, all she could do for now was waiting for her attending physician to show up. Her mind, however, started to recall the conversation during her lunch break. Should she have said something about Ruby? No, it had been better to keep her mouth shut instead of pissing off Yang and her friends.

These people, even though they were weird, kind of cared for her. It was nice to feel accepted for a change, to have somebody to confide in, somebody who she could trust. It appeared that she would need that here, so the white-haired girl wasn't objected to change her attitude a bit. Maybe things would actually get better over time. Maybe even Ruby would _warm up_ to her, as Yang put it, eventually. And who knows, maybe the crimson-haired girl was in a better mood already, like yesterday. Maybe luck was in Weiss' favor for a change.

"Oh! Look what the cat dragged in."

'Great...', the med student thought immediately as her hopes were crushed.

"Hey there, Ice Queen. Looks like someone has a masochistic streak.", Ruby said smugly, a devious grin on her face, "Ready for another day in hell?"

'Don't react to this, Weiss. She can't do you any harm if you keep your cool and just do your job.', the white-haired girl thought.

"No witty retort? No complaint, either? I have to admit, I had thought you would be sick of me after a week.", the crimson-haired doctor pondered, "You're actually tougher than you look... well, not that this means much anyway."

Weiss simply ignored this rude remark about her appearance. She was used to it by now, at least she told herself that much.

"Not in the mood for some chit-chat among besties?", Ruby asked sarcastically, "Guess that makes sense since I don't care about what you have to say anyway. Let's get down to business. I have a lot of fun things for you in mind you'll either tell your kids or your therapist about in the future."

"That sounds lovely.", Weiss responded with fake excitement, "I can't wait to see what you've planned for today."

"Hehe... wrong response, Ice Queen.", Ruby chuckled and her evil, tooth-bearing grin grew even wider.

* * *

Again, Weiss was forced to run around the hospital like crazy, trying to live up to her attending physician's excessive expectations. But, as always, it felt more like the crimson-haired girl tried to harass her, to wear her out, to make her quit. However, Weiss was determined not to back down – she didn't want to give this mean, little shit the satisfaction. Whatever Ruby would throw at her, she would endure it. She wanted, no, NEEDED to be a doctor!

In the late afternoon, when Weiss came back from the laboratory after she had gotten some documents, she saw something weird. Her attending physician was talking to Doctor Oobleck, yet she didn't act all moody or contemptuous. The crimson-haired girl was almost... normal. She even thanked him before the two parted ways! Still, her eye-rolling after their conversation made clear that her attitude had been all fake.

'She might be insufferable but she's not stupid. She knows at whom she can vent and at whom not.', Weiss thought, 'Maybe I can use this to my advantage somehow.' She already had something in mind, something that might work. But on the other hand... did she really want to use _him_ against her?

"Wow! Record time, Ice Queen.", Ruby said with a whistle as she spotted her med student, "However, the parade's running late. Sorry 'bout that. I know how much you want to be appreciated."

"A parade is not necessary but I appreciate your effort.", Weiss simply replied and handed over the clipboard.

"That's all? You're no fun today.", the crimson-haired girl sighed and went through the files while sipping on a cup of coffee, "Come on, give me something. I know my comments are preying on your mind. You're not emotionally stable enough to just brush them off."

"It takes one to know one, huh?", the med student retorted flatly.

"Hey, not half bad for the beginning.", Ruby said with a grin.

"Can we please go back to work and stop this pointless chit-chat?", Weiss asked dryly, "I don't take your bait anymore. You can just stop testing my resilience or whatever fucked-up game it is you're playing."

"No tests here, Sunshine. I'm just trying to show you that you're not cut out to be a doctor.", Ruby simply replied as nonchalantly as in any way possible, "I'm doing my job here, saving lives and stuff. Yours and the ones of your future patients."

"And why exactly do you think so?", the white-haired girl said, trying to keep her cool, "I'm as capable as any other med student here. I'm smart, I'm hard-working, I'm doing at least three times as..."

"This has nothing to do with academics and ambitiousness. I know you're well-off in that department – you remind me often enough, after all.", the crimsonette cut her off with a hint of disregard, "It's just that I don't see you as a doctor. It's a pain in the ass to invest any energy into somebody lacking... _it_. I'm only doing it because I have to."

So this was just something personal? Weiss felt anger well up within her. She had to suffer just because her attending physician didn't like her? Okay, if this little brat wanted to make this personal, then Weiss was more than willing to participate. Two could play this game... and she had never backed down before. It didn't even matter anymore that it was probably easier to just ask for another attending physician to shadow. This crimson-haired shit needed to learn her place. There was no turning back now!

"Since there seems to be no point in discussing this matter logically with you, I guess I have to resort to something else... even though I didn't want to in the first place.", she began, "But I guess that, given that you won't or can't act professionally and just take out your gratuitous anger and reluctance on me, I have no other choice."

At this comment, Ruby raised an eyebrow. Whatever was about to come would most certainly be interesting. Maybe it was even enough to finally achieve her goal – she had no idea why this girl had born with her for so long anyway.

"As you might know, my family is held in high esteem and has a lot of influence.", the white-haired girl continued, "Not just in Atlas but in all of Remnant. Major corporations, research facilities, medical centers... And I'm pretty sure my... father... wouldn't be pleased if he hears how I'm treated here by some arrogant brat... if you catch my drift, _Doctor Rose_."

'That should teach her a lesson.', the white-haired girl thought with a grim satisfaction. She knew that a lot of people feared Jacques Schnee and his wrath – she herself was one of them, after all.

However, the only thing that happened after this explanation was that a sadistic grin appeared on Ruby's face. Weiss didn't like it one bit. But what could she have said that caused this weird reaction? Shouldn't this girl be at least a little bit intimidated? The crimson-haired doctor then downed her coffee in one gulp and held the mug in front of her med student.

"See this? This is my cup of care.", she said and turned it around, "Oh, look. It's fucking empty."

"I wouldn't be so smug about this if I were you.", Weiss responded and crossed her arms, trying to sound confident, "He has a ton of connections and in next to no time you..."

"Even though your daddy might be an influential man and could make my life almost as miserable as you did the last few days...", Ruby interrupted, still a smug expression on her face, "You won't sic him on me. Just the way you said the word _father_ was proof of that. Damn, I swear I could almost taste the hatred."

"What makes you...", Weiss began but was cut off again.

"Blake makes this psychoanalysis stuff look oh so hard, but it's actually pretty simple.", the crimson-haired girl continued, "I mean, just look at you: A young, stuck-up overachiever from a rich and powerful family... You're a walking cliché. There's no way you don't have some serious issues. I reeeaaally wonder what happened, though. Was daddy not nice to you? Ooorrr... maybe he was a bit _too_ nice?"

At the last remark (and the disturbing implication), Weiss' face froze in shock.

"Nah, I guess my first assumption is about right.", Ruby said with an apathy that sent a shiver down the white-haired girl's spine, "He wears at least one ring, right? Even though I'm pretty sure it's not his wedding ring. I mean, apparently, he seems like someone who doesn't care _that_ much about family."

Unconsciously, Weiss' fingers went to her left eye and traced over her scar.

"If it helps you, I think it fits you perfectly.", the crimson-haired doctor continued mercilessly, "It's like a warning sign, some kind of indicator for the ugly inside."

"H-how can you... w-why do you...", the med student croaked out but the rest of her sentence got stuck in her throat.

"I know everything about the Schnees anyone needs to know, Ice Queen.", Ruby said flouting, "Your parents live in a shitty marriage which only came into being because your father had an itch for the company of your grandpa. To cope with it, your mother became as cold and uncaring as he was since day one, maybe with a little help from a bottle of wine here and there. You hate your siblings and vice versa because they are only competition in the fight for daddy's attention. And that's the reason why you're here. If it wasn't for your screwed up upbringing, you would do something completely else, am I right?"

Weiss couldn't respond anything. She was about to cry. She didn't know how it was possible but almost everything the younger girl had said was hitting the nail right on the head. But to tell her something that gruesome with such an indifference, even spite, was almost too much for the white-haired girl to bear.

"You see: I don't care what exactly happened to you in your childhood, I had a rough one myself.", Ruby finished, "But if your whole life, this sad med student episode included, is just a lie and you're just a puppet, maybe being a doctor isn't for you. I'd say you should try a job where you can't kill anyone besides yourself. Like, I dunno, washing dishes, flipping burgers, handing out flyers... oh, by the way, you can cry if you want to. I promise you to care as much as your father."

That did it. The white-haired girl couldn't take it anymore. Any second longer and she would break down. She needed to get away from this horrible person as much as she had needed to get away from Atlas!

"There's... there's a special place in hell for people like you.", Weiss half-sobbed, half-yelled and stormed off.

"I know!", Ruby yelled back spitefully, "It's called a throne!"

* * *

Weiss pushed the heavy metal door open and stumbled onto the hospital's roof. She needed fresh air right now and a place to herself. Nobody would see her tears here. At least she had been able to keep them in so far – but now, since she was alone, there was no reason to hold back anymore.

The white-haired girl sunk to her knees and started to cry uncontrollably. Why?! Why did the universe hate her so much?! At first, her miserable life in Atlas, now this little girl from hell she was expected to work with. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Weiss' tears flowed freely now, accompanied by heart-wrenching whines and sobs. Gone was the prideful and confident girl she pretended she was all the time. At least nobody would see her in this state...

Weiss almost jumped out of her skin as somebody suddenly addressed her.

"Please tell me you didn't come up here to jump."

The startled med student turned around so fast she was sure that she pulled a muscle in her neck. Leaning on the wall a few feet next to the door was Yang, a leather jacket over her left shoulder and a cigarette in her right hand. How the hell hadn't Weiss noticed her? But then again, she had been in her own world... her own, miserable world.

"W-what? No!", she croaked out, stood up again and immediately stopped crying, "I-I was just... I..."

Yang flicked her cigarette butt away and approached the sobbing girl. Weiss visibly tensed up and took half a step back, something she took to in her childhood. Everybody that had walked up to her directly these days either wanted something from her or was about the yell... or worse. However, the white-haired girl was taken aback as strong, protective arms were wrapped around her and pulled her into a firm hug.

"Shhh...", Yang cooed and gently caressed her back, "There, there. Let it all out. Nothing's going to hurt you up here."

Weiss was dumbfounded. She had never felt anything like this. The warmth, the comfort, the honest care that radiated from this woman, even though she was just a stranger, was overwhelming. The white-haired girl's body suddenly acted on its own, pulling the blonde even closer and burying her head in the crook of her neck as she began to cry again. It felt good to do so – for the first time in her life, it felt good to cry, knowing that somebody was there to comfort her. All of these bottled-up emotions broke loose and Weiss clung to Yang like to a life buoy, wailing uncontrollably until she ran out of tears.

The moment the blonde nurse felt her white-haired friend relax (a little), she loosened the embrace but didn't let go completely. She knew that whatever had happened had been huge enough to get past Weiss' fierce defenses. And she knew exactly what could've managed that: Ruby had been at her worst again.

"Do you wanna talk about it?", Yang asked carefully after a minute or two, still running her hand in gentle circles over her friend's back.

"I-I don't know...", Weiss sobbed, "I don't k-know how you will r-react..."

"I know that it's about Ruby.", the blonde simply responded, "I've seen her at her worst a thousand times already. Just tell me everything that happened. Rant and rave if you want to. No hard feelings, promise."

Slowly (and reluctantly), the med student wriggled herself out of the embrace and wiped her face dry with her sleeve. She then looked back to Yang and saw her warm, comforting smile, her face full of what could almost be described as motherly love... if Weiss had known how something like this was supposed to look like.

"I just don't get this girl. One day she's a basket of puppies and rainbows and the other she's a complete hellspawn!", the white-haired girl started, still a little sob in her voice, "What is she trying to accomplish with this?! And why does she hate me this much?! I tried to meet her impossible expectations, I've done everything she wanted me to do! Is she nuts?! Mentally ill?! Or just a sadistic little shit that acts this way to get one's hopes up only to hurt them even more when she crushes them afterwards?!"

Yang simply stood there and listened to the ranting med student. Even though she loved her sister dearly, she understood how Weiss felt. Ruby had been unpredictable since... that day... and almost impossible to deal with sometimes. Nevertheless, Yang would never abandon her. She knew her _real_ sister was still in there somewhere.

"I don't think I can go on like this any longer...", Weiss finally sighed in despair and her eyes started to water again, "I'm not even sure if I want to become a doctor anymore... if I'm just... b-because..." At the last statement, another couple of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I... think it's time for you to hear the truth...", Yang said quietly and hung her head, "You probably deserve it after all you've been through so far without backing down." It wasn't fair that her sister destroyed somebody's life. Maybe Yang could convince the white-haired girl to continue her training. For her... and Ruby's sake. The blonde was pretty sure that Ozpin had assigned Weiss to her for a reason, after all, even though he knew about Ruby's... condition.

* * *

"W-what truth?", Weiss asked confused.

"Okay, but you mustn't tell a single soul that I'm telling you this.", the blonde nurse said, suddenly incredibly serious, "This stuff is supposed to be secret. Blake, and probably Ruby, too, will most certainly figure that I told you but I guess they will be cool with it. But if anybody else finds out, I'm finished."

"I g-give you my word.", the white-haired girl sniffled. She needed to know. Maybe this could help her survive the two years with Ruby as her attending physician. Maybe she wouldn't have to give up on her dream.

"Okay... How do I start?", Yang began, not really knowing how to express herself, "As you may have noticed, my sister is... a little different."

"Y-you don't say...", Weiss half-said, half-sobbed and wiped away another stray tear. A slightly annoyed look from the blonde was ignored by her.

"She's... damn, this sounds so weird... she's not _one_ person.", Yang continued, trying to find the right words without sounding too stupid. How much she wished for Blake to be here right now to explain all of this.

"So... she has a DID?", the white-haired girl asked.

"No, not really.", the nurse explained further, a little proud of herself that she knew the abbreviation for _dissociative identity disorder_ , "What I mean is that she's literally two people. Like... in one body." As the med student stared at her in disbelief, she added: "It's like in this book Blake likes. It's called _The Man with Two Souls_ , and the title is pretty self-explanatory. There's this guy with two souls, each fighting for control over his body... Don't bother reading it, though, it's hella boring. I barely managed to trudge through the first twenty pages or so."

Weiss only raised an eyebrow at this weird change of topic.

"Okay, I'm talking nonsense here. Let's start all over.", Yang sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "When Ruby had been a little child, she was pretty normal. She had a nice childhood, a nice home, she was happy, she was sad sometimes, maybe she was kind of hyper but overall an ordinary kid. Maybe she was smart and had a pretty good memory, too, but she totally didn't seem like a genius. But then... Then everything changed."

At this last remark, the white-haired girl got curious again.

"Y'see... When she was four..."

The blonde hesitated for a moment. Suddenly, she wasn't sure anymore if it was okay to tell Weiss all of this. Not only that she gave away secret medical information, but it was also a huge betrayal of trust against her sister. However, something in the back of her mind told her that she _had_ to tell Weiss – that she _needed_ to convince this girl not to quit working with Ruby. She still didn't know exactly why but, as usual, she went with her gut.

"W-what happened?", the med student asked carefully. She was smart enough to know that what she was about to hear would be huge.

"Her mom died.", Yang answered and sadness was apparent in her voice, "In an accident. She had been a firefighter. There had been a sudden fire in the city and she wanted to help. Grabbed some gear from a truck as soon as one arrived and went into the building. She saved two people that day but something went wrong when she went in one last time. She got injured, fatally. A partner of hers could retrieve her from the building. The medics and doctors on-site tried everything to save her life... b-but it was impossible. Ruby... had been with her that time. I was devastated when I heard about the whole thing but I can't imagine what my half-sister went through at that moment. A four-year-old shouldn't have to... t-to watch her mother die." Weiss only nodded, eyes wide in surprise and shock.

The blonde nurse took a deep, slightly shaking breath and tried to calm her nerves, recovering from the brought-up memories, then she continued: "I guess that's why she wanted to become a doctor in the first place... almost as if she blames herself for the fact that her mom couldn't be saved. She started to study pretty hard and with an almost frightening determination, not just medicine but everything even slightly related to it. At that time, it became somewhat apparent that she was a lot smarter than the average person."

"But what has all of this to do with the _two-souls thing_?", Weiss asked... carefully.

"You see, the day she lost her mom... well, more like after she had kind of dealt with it, she started to change.", Yang explained, "There were days when she was overly nice and cheerful, a lot more than usual, and also especially clingy, and then there were some when she was cold and withdrawn, even mean sometimes. At first, it was like she was just moody but it got weirder over time. Her swings became worse and worse until you thought you spoke with a completely different person every few weeks... or days."

"So she has a bipolar disorder?", the med student pondered.

"No, she hasn't.", the blonde nurse simply objected, "But Dad and I were pretty sure that something was wrong with her soon. So he brought her to a psychiatrist, Blake's mom actually, Kali Belladonna. And that's the part where it gets weird."

"How so?", Weiss wanted to know. What the crimsonette's sister had told her so far was utterly confusing. Okay, Ruby had had a traumatic experience and it had messed with her mind. But two people in the same body? What was the blonde trying to tell her?

"You know that a DID is accompanied by memory impairment, right?", Yang asked. The white-haired girl nodded.

"And that a bipolar disorder normally doesn't cause abrupt and immediate changes in personality and also follows a certain pattern?", the blonde continued, "Mania and depression..."

Again, Weiss confirmed her knowledge about that and was also surprised that an ordinary nurse knew about stuff like that. But then again, since it concerned her sister, Yang had probably acquired quite some insight about mental disorders to help her understand what was going on with the crimson-haired girl.

"Well, Ruby's... _condition_... is different.", the nurse explained further, "As far as I remember, she once told me it's like she's behind a soundproof glass pane, seeing through her own eyes but not having control over her body. She can watch everything, hear everything, remember everything, but can't do anything else, like she's completely locked in. And then, without a warning, everything's back to normal. I even watched her change _mid-sentence_ a couple of times over the past years."

Okay, that was odd. Weiss couldn't remember that she had heard of a mental disorder like that. On the other hand, she had only basic knowledge about the topic – she wanted to be a physician, after all, not a psychiatrist.

"She doesn't tell me much about this stuff, though.", Yang said a little crestfallen, "And I don't think she told Mrs. Belladonna or is now telling Blake a lot more, either."

Suddenly, Weiss was taken aback. So the blonde and the raven-haired woman _had been_ talking about Ruby the other day. Her attending physician actually was in therapy. How could this hospital allow an emotionally unstable girl with some serious issues to practice medicine? Were they insane?

As if Yang could sense her acquaintance's questions, she answered: "I know what you're thinking. But Ruby isn't completely nuts. She knows how to act around the other doctors and patients... well, mostly. But she doesn't endanger anybody, quite the contrary, actually. My sister is a genius, after all, and had made a lot of complicated diagnoses other, a lot more experienced doctors couldn't. Also, or maybe because of this, Ozpin has probably taken a liking to her... tolerance might describe it better. That's why she's here."

"But when she's such a genius, and a prodigy, and whatsoever else, how come barely anybody has heard of her outside of Vale, or just this hospital?", Weiss asked further. It was well known that the BGH was the most prestigious hospital in the world, but the white-haired girl hadn't expected that an eighteen-year-old girl helped to build (okay, more like to uphold) this reputation.

"That's also Ozpin's doing.", Yang explained, "My sister's not the most... social person, one way or the other, so he thought it would be best to keep all this youngest-doctor-in-history stuff a secret from the press. A fourteen-year-old girl, either annoyingly bubbly or despising everybody, is not exactly a person you want to represent your hospital, no matter how incredible she might be. And since she hasn't changed much since then, nobody heard of her for the last four years she worked here."

Even Weiss had to admit that the blonde had a point.

"Okay, I get why she's a doctor and why barely anybody knows about her.", the med student summarized, "But we went off-topic again. If it's not a DID nor a bipolar disorder, what's exactly wrong with her? Y'know, medically spoken." If she knew the name of Ruby's condition, maybe she could study it and learn how to deal with her attending physician in the future. However, the answer she got was just as disappointing as her time at Beacon so far.

"No idea. Both Belladonnas don't understand it yet, either." Yang said with a gloomy shrug. "As far as they told me, and as much as I understand it myself, it's like her two _moods_ evolved into something bigger over time until Ruby became how she is right now. Because of her mother's death, it seems like one version of her tries to be excessively kind to everybody so no one will leave her ever again, while the other does everything within her power to push people away so nobody that _may_ leave her gets into her life. Both got their own protective mechanism and these are completely conflicting with each other. I guess you get why this is pretty distressing for her, right?"

Even though empathizing with other people wasn't Weiss' strong point, she knew what Yang was talking about. It was most certainly the living hell to be constantly around someone you always disagreed with... in everything. The thought of her annoying, younger brother strapped to her back for the rest of her life crossed her mind... or even worse: her father! A shiver of anxiety spread through her body.

"Do you know how much the nice version of my sister suffered... still suffers because her other self treated that woman with pancreatic cancer the way she did on Tuesday? Just because she took over control in a bad situation?", Yang asked, suddenly getting sad again, "Of course, she probably changed the patient's mind and gave her a chance to get cured but do you think this woman wants to see Ruby's face ever again? And about her distant version, I can only assume how frightened she is all the time because of all the people her counterpart lets into her life and that she'll grow attached to them only to be left alone again eventually. Urgh... Every _single_ day I wish that I could make all of this stuff easier for her... them... somehow. But I can't. Nobody can. All I can do is to be there for her."

By now, Weiss had honest sympathy for the blonde. All of this had to be pretty hard on her. And somehow she also felt a little bit sorry for Ruby, too. However, what Yang said next caught her completely off guard.

"And I want you to be there for her as well.", the blonde suddenly finished.

"W-what?! Why?", the white-haired girl exclaimed.

"I have no idea...", Yang sighed with a small chuckle and shook her head in confusion, "But... there is... something. Something in you that makes me think it's important that you're a part of Ruby's life."

"You can't be serious.", Weiss said irritated, "You don't even know me. And now you want me to play caretaker for your mentally ill sister?!" This had to be a bad joke. Was there a hidden camera somewhere?

"I think Ozpin assigned you to Ruby for a reason. Scratch that, I'm sure of it.", the blonde explained dead serious, "He had never assigned a student to her when she had been a resident. You're her first one. And you're also pretty young and _incredibly_ smart. You're someone Ruby can identify with."

"I'm not that smart compared to her.", Weiss corrected, even though she was just trying to talk Yang out of this whole thing.

"Maybe, but Ruby has an unfair advantage, after all. She probably got so smart because she has two minds or something.", Yang pondered, "Like, labor division: One studies or memorizes all the medical things while the other takes care of everyday's life and stuff. Or they split a page they're reading and then, during a test or something, they collaborate. Nobody knows, though, and she doesn't speak about it, so it's just a guess."

"I didn't want an explanation.", the med student said, "I was trying to tell you I'm not participating in this weird scheme. What makes you think I'm fit for this anyway? Your sister hates me!"

"No, she doesn't.", Yang explained, "The nice Ruby actually likes you a lot. And the other version of her doesn't hate you as well. She just wants to keep everybody at a distance because of her serious abandonment issues. But I don't want to imagine what will happen to her if somebody else leaves her again in this crucial part of her life. It will tear her apart even more and I just don't want to let this happen. B-but then again, it's up to you. It's not your fault if you want to change attending physicians or whatever. You owe me nothing... or Ruby..."

Weiss really anticipated waking up in her bed in Atlas now. Everything had to be a strange dream. Had this blonde woman really asked her to suffer emotionally for two years to help an insane stranger? Admittedly, Yang had consoled her when she had been in dire need of it, just out of pure kindheartedness, but still...

...

On the other hand: Wasn't this the real reason why she wanted to be a doctor? To help people out of her miserable lives? To give them a second chance? And wouldn't she be as bad as her father if she denied the crimson-haired girl this?

"Please.", the blonde begged almost desperately, "Please try to bear with Ruby a little longer. I promise that me and my friends will help you with everything you ask for. I know I'm in no position to ask you that... It's just... I'll make this up to you somehow if you just..."

"Okay.", Weiss simply interrupted her, "I'll give it a try. I'll take your kindness and pay it forward." At this statement, Yang's eyes lit up again.

"R-really?!", she asked in amazement and relief, "Oh, y-you have no idea how much this means to me! Seriously, Weiss, you're like... awesome squared, or cubed."

"Don't mention it. Helping people is what I want to do with my life anyway.", Weiss responded, then she added a little sheepishly, "And... thanks for comforting me. I... really needed this. Not just because of your sister but... in general, you know."

"Anytime.", the blonde said with a smile and briefly hugged the med student again, "If anything's the matter, I'll be there for you. As I said, what are friends for, after all?"

"Friends...", Weiss let the word linger on her tongue for a moment, "I like the sound of that."

"What do you mean?", Yang asked confused.

"Well, I guess you could say that you're my first real friend ever.", Weiss explained, "Since I definitely won't count all the lickspittles back in Atlas, who just were after my family's name or money."

"You're kidding, right?", the blonde asked again and raised an eyebrow.

"I wish I were...", the white-haired girl sighed, "My father chose my _friends_ back in Atlas. All of them as fake as you can possibly imagine."

"Well, don't worry then.", Yang exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear now, "I promise you I'll be the best of besties _you_ can possibly imagine."

"That's easy, given I don't know what that's like.", Weiss replied with a smile as well, "But I really appreciate it." The two women stood on the rooftop for just a little longer, trying to digest everything that had happened.

"So... do you think you're ready to go down there again?", the blonde nurse suddenly mentioned, "I guess I should go back as well or people will think I'm trying to avoid my paperwork... and I don't want them to be right about that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right.", the med student pondered, "I'll most certainly get an earful from your sister for skipping work. I hope you will psych me up again if she makes me cry." She let out a defeated sigh afterwards but she wanted to give Ruby at least another chance.

"Nah... I'll just tell her that I kept you occupied. She won't get that mad at me.", Yang simply said, "And don't take everything she says to heart. Ruby doesn't mean it, she's just trying to protect herself. She actually thinks pretty highly of you."

"Urgh... Fine, I believe you, although it's pretty hard to do so.", Weiss sighed again, "Maybe knowing about her condition makes it at least a little easier to survive the constant rants and insults of... this version of your sister."

"And remember: Don't tell anybody about our little conversation.", Yang stressed again, "Even though it doesn't look like it sometimes, I really like working here."

"I won't spill anything. A promise is a promise.", the white-haired girl responded and earned a comradely pat on the back from her new friend. Her first friend...

As they made their way down the stairs again, one question still floated around in Weiss' head: Now that she knew all of this about Ruby, how should she deal with her from now on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand that's it. Ruby and Ruby. Since this medical stuff isn't my forte, I took some advice from another one of my buddies who studies psychology. He gave me some advice about mental disorders, their extremes and how about to mash them together to somehow explain Ruby's condition, at least a little. So I hope that everything makes at least a little sense, even though this is fictional.
> 
> By the way, I made Summer a firefighter since she needed a heroic job in a world without Grimm. It also made it easier to explain her death without it being meaningless. So, yeah, that is that. I thought about her being a policewoman, too, but firefighter kind of appealed more to me.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the explanation of Ruby's condition wasn't complete garbage. It seems that Weiss wants to give her attending physician a second chance. But even though she wants to help her, can she really forgive Ruby for everything the younger girl had said and done? And, just as important: Can Ruby forgive herself, well, not exactly herself but, well, y'know? I guess we'll find out in the next chapter. No idea how long I need to write it, though...


	5. Disagreements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go – the monthly update. I'm pretty busy working on my other fics and this story is supposed to be just a side project, after all. Also, I'm still trying to figure out how to pace this thing best – the peaks and turning points are plotted out so far, but just rushing to them feels... well, weird. Anyway, enough with the excuses. Enjoy the next chapter.

'What was that for, you big jerk?!'

'You know exactly what this was for, imbecile. We have the same conscience.'

'That's not what I meant. Why do you have to be so mean to her all the time?'

'To make her quit. If I keep this up and you stop interfering, she will _at least_ demand another attending physician within the next week. And since everybody here knows me all too well, she'll get one and we have our peace and quiet again. We don't need a med student.'

'But I like her. She's trying really hard and she's also pretty smart and ambitious. And even though she might be a bit stuck-up, that's not her fault. There's still a lot of good in her. Why do you want her to ditch us so badly?'

'Because we're FUCKING BROKEN, dipshit!'

* * *

With a loud sigh, Ruby collapsed on top of the nurses' station's counter. Arguing with herself was exhausting. Of course, her other self was displeased with her decision, but she knew better. They were better off alone.

"Rough day?", a voice suddenly addressed her. The crimson-haired girl looked up and saw Blake sitting behind the counter, eating a tuna sandwich and most certainly waiting for Yang to return.

"Do you have nothing to do?", Ruby asked mildly annoyed.

"Lunch break.", the raven-haired woman replied and waved with her sandwich.

"It's half past four.", the crimsonette remarked, "How much whining did you hear today before you decided you were sick of your clients?"

"A lot. Mostly children who lost their kittens or dropped their ice cream. You know the drill.", Blake answered her friend with a cocky smile. She knew this Ruby didn't take her job seriously, so why trying to explain herself?

"Are you making fun of me?", Ruby tried to growl, but her headache made it sound like an annoyed sigh, at most.

"Wouldn't dream of it.", Blake simply replied and took a bite of her sandwich, "Anyway, where's Weiss? Still trying to get rid of her?"

"Make a guess.", the younger girl answered sarcastically.

"I don't think this girl will give up anytime soon. She has her heart set on becoming a doctor.", the raven-haired woman explained, "So you'll have to fix whatever you said or did to her eventually."

" _I_ won't do shit.", Ruby spat back.

"I know. But _she_ will.", Blake responded with a superior grin. The psychiatrist knew she had the upper hand in this conversation.

"Fuck off.", Ruby sighed defeated, then she grabbed a clipboard, scanned it quickly and went back to work. She wasn't in the mood for dealing with Blake anymore.

* * *

Just as the raven-haired woman was about to finish her sandwich, Yang and Weiss arrived at the nurses' station. She waved comradely at their approach and got a nod and a smile in return. However, the moment both women got closer, the psychiatrist immediately noticed the med student's bloodshot eyes and that she looked, well, a little distressed in general.

"Hey, guys. Everything alright?", she asked concerned as soon as her friends were within earshot.

"Of course.", Weiss answered, trying to sound confident, "What makes you think differently?"

"You don't need to be a psychiatrist to notice that you've been crying.", Blake simply responded, then she addressed Yang, "Had Ruby been that bad?"

"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.", the blonde sighed but smiled afterwards, "However, I was able to fix this... well, kinda." She looked over at Weiss and was met with another nod and a weak smile.

"Yeah, I'm much better now that I've talked my problems away.", the white-haired girl reassured her new friend, "I guess I'll survive another hour of Doctor Rose before the weekend."

"You know what? Why don't you call it a day?", Yang suggested, "Your shift is over soon anyway and you still look like you need some rest. Everybody is going to understand. They know how Ruby can get sometimes, especially with new people." Blake only nodded at this.

"Nah, I can't really do that.", the med student refused, even though it sounded wonderful to leave early and finally enjoy a Ruby-free weekend, "I'm here to learn something, after all."

"I think you've suffered enough for one week.", the nurse said, "Maybe Ruby's in a better mood again after a few days when she has digested this new situation, but I think you better get out of her hair for now. There isn't much to learn when she's like this, anyway. Don't worry, I'll explain your absence and also talk to her about treating you a little nicer."

"Y-you'd do that for me?", Weiss asked puzzled... and maybe a little hopeful.

"Sure thing.", Yang replied confidently, "Just leave it to your bestie. Now away with you, before Ruby gets here."

"Thank you.", the white-haired girl said, then she turned halfway around and remained that way for a moment as if something in her mind struggled against leaving early. She had never done this before... abandon her studies. The med student looked over her shoulder to face Yang again, but the blonde only gave her a thumbs up and a reassuring nod. For some reason, these simple gestures blew her worries away and she made her way to the locker rooms to change. And even though it still didn't feel quite right to do this, Weiss had to admit that her new friend was right – she had earned this.

* * *

Yang looked after the white-haired girl with a content smile on her face. She was sure that this had been the right thing to do. If this girl really wanted to help her with her sister, she needed to be well-rested, physically and emotionally. One severe verbal abuse was enough for one day.

When the med student was out of sight, the blonde turned around to address Blake: "Talking about Ruby... where is the little cookie monster?"

"You've told her about Ruby's condition, haven't you?", Blake deadpanned. Now that was unexpected.

"Whaaat? Whatcha talking 'bout?", Yang asked defensively.

"The only reason Weiss hasn't demanded another attending physician by now... or moved out of town... is that she somehow understands that your sister can't do anything about behaving like this.", the raven-haired woman explained, "I know how malicious Ruby can be, and a person who barely knows her most certainly won't just shrug it off after such a torrent of hatred. Must've been a pretty bad one, after all, since Weiss had obviously cried her eyes out."

"I've done what I thought was necessary.", the blonde simply responded and retook her usual seat, "What do you think will happen to Ruby's psyche if her first med student ditches her, after one week, on top of that?"

"I have a vague idea since I've studied the human mind as well as treated your sister for a few years now.", Blake said sarcastically, then she whispered, "But you can't just give out secret medical information like that. What if someone finds out? They'll fire you immediately and you'll never be able to work as a nurse anymore."

"If this is what it takes to make Ruby happy, then so be it.", Yang huffed, "I always have plan B: open a biker pub. I had this awesome idea when I thought I wouldn't make it during the final exams while in nursing school. Anyway, I don't think that Weiss will tell anyone about our little talk."

"Even though it's pretty gullible to believe this since you barely know this girl, I kind of like it that you're still that trustful and kindhearted after all the years working here.", the psychiatrist pondered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome, right?", the blonde responded with a grin, "So do you know where Ruby is? Would probably be shitty if she walks into Weiss right now."

"She showed up here about twenty minutes ago, tried to insult my profession, grabbed a clipboard, and disappeared into the darkest recesses of the ICU again.", Blake explained.

"Yeah, that sounds like her...", Yang admitted with a frown, "Was her mood really _that_ bad?"

"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.", the raven-haired woman responded with a small grin.

"It's not as funny when you say it.", the blonde responded grumpily, "So it's as bad as I thought, huh?"

"I'm pretty sure that chewing out Weiss triggered quite a debate inside of her mind.", the psychiatrist guessed, "It's probably a bad idea to talk to her about her med student now."

"You're probably right. I should let her cool off a little.", Yang pondered, "She's going to say goodbye anyway when her shift is over, even her mean version does this. Then I'll talk to her about Weiss, and after that, I'll have to continue working for four more hours." The last part was spoken in a whine.

"Awww, poor little Yangy.", Blake said with a mischievous grin, "I'm done with all of my appointments for today and my paperwork is finished as well. So if you excuse me, I'll clock out now. Give Ruby my regards." With these words, the raven-haired woman gave her friend a comradely nudge with the elbow, then she left as well.

"I really hate you sometimes, Blakey!", the blonde nurse cat-called.

"No, you don't!", the psychiatrist yelled back before she turned a corner and was out of earshot.

* * *

Yang continued with her paperwork for about an hour, then her sister's shift was over. However, Ruby was nowhere to be seen. Usually, the first thing the crimsonette did, even before changing, was telling her about her day and saying goodbye. Maybe something that required Ruby's immediate assistance had happened. Or she was having another coffee or a snack before she decided to finish this little parting ritual and head home.

The blonde nurse tried not to think too much into her sister's absence and focused on her work. But that got harder the later it got. After another half an hour went by, she started to ask the doctors who passed the station about Ruby's whereabouts, however, no one had seen her. Yang's worries intensified and after another thirty minutes, she stopped working on her files and started to look for her sister herself.

First, she sent a text to Blake since the psychiatrist had apparently been the last one who had seen the crimson-haired girl. Maybe she had noticed something odd about Ruby. Unfortunately, the message the nurse got in response just said that the raven-haired woman hadn't detected anything weird, well, weirder than usual.

After her brief exchange with Blake, Yang asked Nora at the lobby, but the orange-haired girl hadn't seen Ruby as well. Then, the nurse checked the cafeteria, the break room, and the bathrooms. However, the young doctor was nowhere to be found. The last location that was left was the on-call room and if Ruby wasn't there she had most certainly sneaked out of the hospital without saying goodbye – and that would be pretty worrying.

* * *

When Yang opened the door to the ready room, it was completely dark inside. Admittedly, she had expected this since people usually slept in there. The blonde doubted to find her sister, though. The crimsonette's next shift didn't start until tomorrow afternoon, so why should she be here? But still...

Yang immediately spotted a familiar figure sitting on one of the beds. The small form, the asymmetrically cut hair, and the hood that hid the collar of the lab coat where clear indicators that she had found the person she was looking for. However, the blonde's worries weren't dispelled by seeing her sister, quite the contrary: Even though there was barely any light in the room, she noticed that Ruby had been crying as well.

"Hey, sis...", Yang said with as much comfort in her voice as possible.

"Oh! Hey, Yang.", Ruby responded, trying to sound cheery... and failing miserably.

"Everything okay?", the nurse asked, "Your shift was over an hour ago and you didn't say goodbye or told me you're working overtime."

"Don't worry about me. Everything's fine. Just... catching a break before heading home or something, is all.", the crimson-haired girl answered but her sister knew exactly she was lying.

"Okay, Rubes. How about you try again. But this time, go for the truth.", Yang said in a sterner voice and sat down next to her. The younger girl immediately caved in.

"I... I made Weiss cry really bad today.", Ruby began with a sigh, "Well, not _I_ but... urgh, you know. I said so many terrible things to her, about her childhood and her family. And worst of all, most of the things I said were true and I said that I don't care in the slightest. I guess that's why she reacted the way she did. I can't blame her if she doesn't want to see me ever again. Even I don't want to see _this_ me again now. There's no way I can make this up to Weiss. I fucked this up completely." She sniffled a bit and wiped away another tear.

"No. No, you didn't, sis.", Yang said in a comforting tone and put an arm around her, "I'm pretty sure she'll forgive you. She's a tough girl and she doesn't seem like somebody that bears grudges against other people for too long, I guess."

"You've told her, right?", Ruby deadpanned.

Okay, that was fast. First Blake, now her. Yang knew her sister was smart but she didn't expect that she would've found out right away. Well, there was no point in lying anyway anymore.

"Yeah... I told her.", the blonde admitted, "She was devastated. I... I don't know why but I kinda had to."

"Urgh... I guess I can at least understand why you told her... a little.", the crimson-haired girl sighed and tried to sort her thoughts. What she wanted to tell her sister now wasn't exactly easy for her... well, for _this_ her. But before she could continue with her _but_ , her sister interrupted her.

"Thanks that you're cool with it.", Yang said relieved and hugged the younger girl, "I was really torn about telling her or not and I felt kind of bad about it afterwards. But now that I'm hearing you're taking this so well, I..."

"Just because I said I understand why you did it doesn't mean I'm okay with that.", Ruby cut her off annoyed, "Why did you think it was a good idea to tell her? Now she'll think I'm a freak. Or even worse: What if she tells other people, or the press, or who knows whom else? How could you assume _this_ was a good idea?"

"I thought that it might help her deal with you, so she won't quit.", the blonde nurse explained herself, "I... I thought you might need her..."

"I don't need anybody!", Ruby suddenly snarled and harshly pushed her sister away. She wanted to stand up and storm out of the room but as soon as she got to her feet she started to stagger and sunk back into the mattress with a groan. Then she started to massage her temples and took a deep breath.

"You alright, sis?", Yang asked worriedly. Of course, she had seen this a lot of times already but that didn't mean she'd ever stop to care about Ruby.

"Yeah, I'm okay.", the crimson-haired girl sighed, "Sorry. I didn't mean... for this to happen... again."

"I know that you can't do anything about it.", the blonde said soothingly and caressed her sister's back, "I love you no matter what and this is never going to change."

"Thank you.", the crimsonette almost whispered, "I have no idea what I would do without you."

"That's something you'll never need to worry about.", her sister promised. But then, something else struck her mind. Ruby's changes happened a lot lately, way more than usual. Was this really just about Weiss and the new situation in general? Or was there something else to it? Maybe she was scared of her next therapy session, or she had trouble with a patient or another doctor. Or...

As carefully as possible, the nurse asked: "By the way, change of topic. Do you actually take the pills Blake got you regularly?"

"I don't want to. They taste awful.", Ruby whined, "And they don't help anyway. I just get dizzy and apathetic, but nothing else. And a dizzy and apathetic jerk is still a jerk."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll talk to Blake about this when I get the chance.", Yang promised but sighed inwardly. Another medication cocktail that wasn't of any use. However, she knew that when her sister was saying that the pills weren't working properly, it was the truth. If there was one thing both Ruby's agreed to, then it was that they wanted to be cured – if only not to bear with the other one anymore.

"As if this is going to help.", the crimsonette huffed, "As far as I remember, I've taken almost every psychotropic drug there is... as well as a lot of combinations."

"Don't you know the exact numbers, you little genius?", the blonde asked with a small smile, even though it was still laden with worry, "Maybe give me a percentage?"

"I don't want to discourage you.", Ruby sighed. If someone hadn't approved another psychiatric compound since the last time she had informed herself about the matter, then she knew exactly. She had an eidetic memory, after all, and was pretty good at math as well.

"Anyway, you should go home and catch some sleep.", Yang suggested, "Your shift is long since over."

"Why should I go home?", the young doctor asked depressed, "You still have work to do, so everything that's waiting for me there is an instant meal, a boring TV show, and loneliness. The last thing's exactly what _she_ wants and I don't want to give her that satisfaction. I guess I'll just take a quick breather and return to work."

"Maybe you should pay Dad a visit in Patch over the weekend.", the nurse recommended, "For all I know, you're not working on Sunday... well, officially. Maybe that'll take your mind off some things."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Ruby responded sheepishly, "I... I know he loves me and all that, but I can see how he suffers everytime I'm there, or she's there, but not his little girl... the normal one... the one he had lost along with Mom. Also, I look almost exactly like her and it'll just remind him of her and her death. I... I don't want to be a bother. And other me neither..."

"Ruby Rose.", Yang said in a scolding tone, "This is by far the dumbest thing I've ever heard, even though _I'm_ part of the competition. Dad would never, ever, in a billion years, long after the universe has collapsed or something, think that you're a bother. He loves you as much as I do... which is a pretty great performance since I'm so incredibly nice and caring, simply put, super awesome."

Of course, their father loved the crimsonette to death – Yang had only put the last part that way to lighten the mood. Ruby even chuckled a bit at her sister's remark, however, she still looked pretty crestfallen. The nurse knew that she couldn't leave it at that.

"Compromise: You help me with my paperwork until my shift is over, then we head home together and grab a bite to eat on the way, so you won't be lonely.", Yang suggested, "Sounds good?"

"I'm pretty sure that's just some kind of nefarious plan so I do the work you don't want to.", Ruby said while raising an eyebrow. She knew exactly that this wasn't her sister's intent, but she tried to tease back nonetheless to take her mind off of her so far miserable day.

"Hey, I'm only trying to cheer you up and keep you company.", the blonde responded with a grin, "Just don't question my love and let the healing begin!" Then, she gave her sister a tight, almost suffocating hug.

"Fine. But I pick where we eat.", Ruby groaned in feigned agony and wriggled herself out the embrace, yet, she couldn't help but smile as well.

"There's my little ball of sunshine.", Yang smirked, then she stood up again and pulled the younger girl up with her, "Then let's get to it. The sooner you're done with the paperwork, the sooner I can slack off again in good conscience."

"You're hopeless.", the crimson-haired doctor half-sighed, half-giggled.

"Hey, if it's something that concerns a patient's well-being, I work for three people.", the blonde explained nonchalantly, "I've earned the breaks other people deem as 'bad work ethics'."

"I guess I can't argue with that.", Ruby responded, "I'd give you a cookie as a reward for your efforts, but I already ate them all." This comment caused Yang to giggle now, then, the sisters left the on-call room and headed for the nurses' station.

* * *

However, even Yang's comforting words couldn't soothe the crimsonette completely, mostly because she was constantly stuck with the reason for her misery.

'Wow... doing our sister's dirty work and afterwards a greasy burger with flavorless, sticky fries for 6.39 Lien. Balm for the soul, and all our troubles are forgotten. Oh, wait...'

'Shut up already! This is entirely your fault! Our med student hates us and I'm the only one of us who cares. I hate you!'

'Hehe... the feeling's mutual.'

'I'm trying to be a good person and you ruin everything!'

'I'm trying to protect us, you moron!'

'All you do is making me suffer!'

'Awesome! Maybe I can get rid of you, too!'

'SHUT UP!'

Hopefully, there were headache pills at the nurses' station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Ruby... I guess it's pretty hard when you're your biggest enemy (not exactly YOU but, well, you get the idea) but can't do anything about it. I thought, after all the explanation stuff in the last chapter, it was necessary to shine a light on the crimsonette's internal struggles. And even though Yang handled the situation pretty well (at least in my opinion), it most certainly won't help her sister in the long run. By the way, I hope that it's clear which Ruby says what during these weird self-talks. Should be pretty obvious, though.
> 
> Also, about Ruby's medication: For now, I don't know exactly how I'm going to work this into the story, but it seemed like an interesting idea to open up a few possibilities. Maybe it won't be relevant at all, so don't try to read that much into it at the moment. Apparently, the crimson-haired girl doesn't take the pills anyway.
> 
> Well, that's that. Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments. I'll see you around. Maybe I can finish the next one a little sooner. No promises, though...


	6. The Single Most Ridiculous Thing I've Ever Heard

Blake wasn't a fan of Mondays... never had been, actually. Of course, she would never admit that to Yang, mostly because that would give the blonde an opportunity to compare her to this fat, lazy cat in these ridiculous comic strips she always read. The psychiatrist had to endure enough weird cat jokes from her friend already. Her bow reminded Yang of feline ears, she loved tuna a lot, she had yellow eyes, she had purred that one time on the Christmas party when she had been drunk and Yang was petting her head... the list went on and on.

Her dislike of Mondays had a few reasons: First and foremost, it was a sign that the weekend was over again and she had to deal with the boring, daily routine. No time for her reading group anymore, no spontaneous fishing trips, no going out for a drink with her friends, nothing. Second, it meant that she had to go back to this monster of a hospital. Of course, Blake loved her job and wanted to help people, but as a psychiatrist, you sometimes had to deal with a lot of heavy stuff.

And third: Every two weeks on a Monday, she had to go through a very special therapy session – Ruby's session... and that was something she really didn't look forward to.

It wasn't like she hated the girl, quite the contrary. The psychiatrist never minded nice Ruby's bubbliness and even the mean version of her was somewhat fascinating. She really didn't like the crimsonette's therapy sessions for a different reason: It was just so galling that it seemed that there never was any progress. Blake really wanted to help the girl, her friend and best friend's sister, but she couldn't. She could only try and give the crimsonette some advice on how to deal with her condition. If there had been any bigger emotional breakthrough in the past, the raven-haired woman couldn't remember it – which would've been odd since she knew Ruby's files inside and out.

The psychiatrist was sitting in her office and going over said, well-memorized files again for whatever reason when there was a knock on the door at ten o'clock sharp. Since she had already awaited the crimson-haired girl, she responded with a chipper "Come in!". However, her put-on good mood was immediately wiped away by one simple sentence.

"Alright... let's get this waste of time over with.", Ruby snarled as she scuffled into the room, obviously annoyed.

"So it's _you_ today, huh?", Blake immediately recognized which version of her crimson-haired friend was entering her office and added sarcastically, "This is going to be fun."

"Yeah, I know.", the young doctor said with a scornful chuckle, "It's always sunshine and rainbows with me."

"Well then, how about we get started with this... _waste of time_?", Blake suggested.

"Fine with me.", Ruby agreed, "Shall I lay down on the sofa and mourn my life while you are drawing circles on your notepad and ask _"And how does that make you feel?"_ occasionally?"

"I guess that won't be necessary. Let's just start with talking about your last week.", Blake said and offered her younger friend the chair across her desk, "Your life has undergone quite some changes in these few days. I'd like your opinion on everything. Good stuff, bad stuff, neither-nor stuff... whatever you think is worth the mention. You know the drill."

"It's pretty funny how you tried to avoid the _"How does that make you feel?"_ phrase after I've mocked you with it.", the crimson-haired girl remarked with a mean grin, "But regarding your question, I don't think there's anything worth being mentioned. So just ask whatever you want to know about my relationship with my new med student, I'm going to tell you that she annoys me and I'm still trying to get rid of her, then we both can go back to work. Me saving lives and you... whatever you're doing in your office when you think nobody's watching. I couldn't care less."

"Interesting... you mentioned Weiss right away.", the psychiatrist noted, "So I guess that something about her _is_ bothering you after all."

"This stuck-up girl showing up is the only major thing that had changed in the past few weeks.", Ruby sighed, "You don't need to be a genius to figure out that's what we're going to talk about during this session. So, as I said, just let's get this over with. What do you want to know? I've prepared a lot of cool and hilarious responses to almost every conversation scenario possible."

"You immediately said that you still want to get rid of her.", Blake mentioned, "How come? She had proven that she is more than capable to do the job as well as to deal with you."

"But dealing with _her_ is such a waste of time.", the crimsonette groaned, "I don't understand why I have to do this? Everybody knows that I'm the worst person in terms of handling a med student because my mind's all fucked up. That's why I try to make Weiss demand another attending physician: She can continue to live her happy, little lie and tell herself that her life is truly hers now... and I will get my peace and quiet back and won't have to care about her and her annoying face anymore."

"It kinda fascinates me that you try to get rid of her so vehemently.", the raven-haired woman suddenly said, "I mean, training a med student is part of the job at some point and you knew that. I actually expected you to just ignore her like any other disposable person in your life... y'know, handling her professionally and giving her some simple tasks to keep her busy while you just continue to live your life the way you've always done. So why are you trying to crush her with such fierce determination?"

"Because she isn't like a normal med student.", Ruby explained, "I wouldn't have minded her and would've done as you said if she were one and not such a stuck-up bitch with her _extraordinary qualifications_ she reminds you of every twelve seconds. I have my own garbage. Especially I have neither the time nor the energy to simultaneously deal with her complexes."

"I'm pretty sure that there's more to it.", Blake noted, "It's not just that she annoys you. Everybody does and you still manage to deal with them. I think that there's something you see in her. Maybe it's her intelligence, maybe even the fact that she is the way she is and how she had become like it, but I'd say the reason you try to push her away so furiously is because you think that the girl is somewhat special and you're afraid that she could eventually become important to you. Of course, that's just my opinion. What do you think about that?"

"So you're trying to tell me that it's basically just my commitment phobia and utilizing my defensive mechanisms again?", the crimsonette asked with a bored expression on her face, "Y'know, like you're... _always_ telling me?"

"Well... yes.", the psychiatrist admitted matter-of-factly.

"Wow... what a twist. By the way, you can just use the medical terms. We both know that I'm waaay smarter than you anyway, _Doctor_ Belladonna.", Ruby said, using air quotes on the word _doctor_.

"Yes, and we both know that the other you will apologize for this session about a hundred times as soon as she returns.", Blake stated dryly.

"Probably...", the crimsonette admitted, "God, I hate her..."

"You two should sort this out. So when are you going to tell her?", the raven-haired woman asked cockily.

"I think she knows.", Ruby deadpanned, but then she snapped without a warning, "Maybe because we're _the same fucking person with the same fucking consciousness,_ smartass."

"Sorry for the bad joke. That was kind of unprofessional.", Blake apologized, "Let's continue. What about Weiss? In general, as a person. What do you think of her?"

"Oh, I hate _her_ , too.", Ruby responded, "As I said, she is an annoying, stuck-up, delusional waste of my time with enough mental issues that she's almost rivaling me. And, as I also said, I can barely handle myself... selves... so I really don't see the point why I should be dealing with her on top of that."

"If you say so... I guess I have no other choice but to believe you.", the psychiatrist said almost challenging, "I wish I could hear the version of your other self, though."

"Well, she isn't here. And I can't change that if I wanted to.", the crimson-haired girl sighed, "By the way, I don't. However, her opinion is as predictable and as useless as mine. We deal in absolutes, y'know. She loves everything, I hate everything. It's that easy."

"Just because you deal your way with people and she does it her way doesn't mean that your opinions are useless.", Blake simply explained, "There's a lot more to it and it's way more complex, like always. And I know that what you're telling me pretty much differs from what you actually think, consciously or subconsciously."

"Enlighten me, then.", Ruby demanded and she was getting annoyed again, "Save us some time and tell me what _I_ actually think about this white-haired, little nuisance."

There were a few moments of silence. Blake knew that whatever she was about to say now would be pretty important... if not a complete turning point regarding Ruby's relationship with Weiss. Being responsible for a med student, a highly intelligent and _interesting_ one on top of that, was a big step for the young doctor... and the raven-haired woman knew that Head Physician Ozpin had assigned Weiss to Ruby for a specific reason. Fortunately, the psychiatrist already knew exactly what she wanted to tell her younger friend.

"Fine with me. But remember: You asked for this.", Blake said and took a deep breath, "I think that even _you_ like Weiss because she is almost as intelligent as you, struggles a lot of problems herself and is, all in all, maybe finally someone who understands you to some extent. Not understands you like me, or Yang, or your dad, or whoever else, but actually understands you because she suffers similar problems and insecurities. The otherness, the resulting loneliness... She could become someone you could actually confide in and that scares you because you're sure there's no way you wouldn't fuck up this relationship eventually and Weiss just becomes another person who leaves you. It would cause another and probably heavy conflict between yourself and your other half which is going to make your life incredibly harder. And, of course, you don't want that. That's why you try to push her away with all your might before the aforementioned first confiding episode is going to happen and your life is going to change, even though it's not even completely certain that this change would be for the worse. And while the _kinder_ version of yourself tries to rush and force things, you just run away, like always. I know that you two can't do anything about the way you are, even though you are long aware of everything I've just said but maybe... only maybe... you could turn both of your actions down a notch and, well, try to balance each other out a bit in this matter. Working together might be pretty hard for you since you immensely hate the way the other is handling things but I think it could be worth a shot. And even if everything falls apart again, at least you know you've tried which would be a big step towards becoming a better person as a whole. And if you think that the resulting emotional pain is too much for you to bear alone, always remember that you still have people who are there for you... and always will be."

There was, again, a moment of silence. Blake and Ruby just stared at each other, the former with a friendly, but somewhat superior smile, the latter with a rather irritated expression. The raven-haired psychiatrist knew that what she had just told her friend was a lot to digest, even though the younger girl probably knew all this herself already, but it had to be said out loud. Now all she could do was wait for the crimsonette to respond something... whatever that would be. However, she didn't have to wait that long.

"This is the single most ridiculous thing I've ever heard... and I spend a lot of time with Yang.", Ruby said disdainfully, "Just tell me one thing: If Weiss is as intelligent as you said, why hasn't she demanded another attending physician by now? We're biologically programmed to avoid pain, physically or emotionally, after all."

"Maybe she just appreciates a good challenge... just like you.", Blake simply responded.

"Or she's just a little masochist. Y'know, another fucked up rich girl with some weird complexes and fetishes.", the crimsonette noted disinterestedly, "I don't think I can make any use of this. Even though I can be a little mean sometimes, I'm more a fan of the vanilla stuff, if you know what I mean." She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively at this comment.

"The fact that you try to travesty this only fortifies my assumptions.", the psychiatrist explained, "You can either take what I've told you today into account when dealing with Weiss in the future or you can pretend that this conversation never happened and continue to live your little lie... just like the person you allegedly hate does." The last part was spoken with a fair amount of sarcasm.

Ruby just sat there and gave Blake a now pretty annoyed look while grinding her teeth. Even though she wished otherwise, she had to admit that not everything her raven-haired friend had told her was complete bullshit. Of course, she would never admit this, nor would she treat Weiss any different from now on. As long as she could get rid of this girl, everything would just return to normal – and since her life was pretty complicated already, normal was what she liked best. She and her other half didn't need any more drama, any more exhausting and useless contact to other people, and, most importantly, any more suffering. They had enough of this for two lifetimes already.

* * *

Therefore, the young doctor simply responded: "Time's up."

A look at the clock and a buzz from Blake's Scroll a few seconds later confirmed this. Again, the psychiatrist was pretty surprised how fast an hour flew by when she was talking with the crimson-haired girl, specifically _this_ version of her. Admittedly, they sometimes wasted a few minutes here and there with angry silence and off-topic insults from Ruby's side, but most of the time they actually talked about her life and her condition. And today was... well... especially interesting.

"If you excuse me now...", the crimsonette said and stood up, "I have more important things to attend to. Just tell Ozpin that I'm still capable of doing my job and all the other crap you make up so he doesn't immediately fire me and/or commit me to a mental hospital."

"Will do.", Blake responded nonchalantly, "So... what are you gonna do about Weiss now?"

"Sticking to the plan.", Ruby replied dryly. Then, she was already out of the door, which fell shut shortly after.

"As if...", the raven-haired woman whispered. Even though the younger girl had said otherwise, Blake knew that today's session was pretty... thought-provoking for her, to say at least. However, it was still up to the young doctor how to handle the situation from now on.

'I know it's too early to think so...', Blake told herself inwardly long after the door had fallen shut, 'But I'm inclined to say that we're finally getting somewhere with this. Now I just can hope that Yang did a decent job talking to Weiss and the girl doesn't fuck this up. Maybe, if everything goes alright, then...'

The thought brought a small, yet content smile to her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, progress... as small and insignificant it might be. But I guess today's therapy session gave Ruby a little... food for thought. Let's see how her next interaction with her poor med student turns out – and which version of her faces her first, am I right?
> 
> Let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. I know that the therapy session seemed a little odd at some points but since I have no idea what something like this looks like, I made it something between a professional session and a casual conversation between two friends (more or less...). I know it's far from perfect, so please be gentle in your reviews. Maybe I'm going to rework this chapter a little at some time, but I guess the essentials are clear.
> 
> Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, folks. I promise that there will be more Ruby-Weiss-interaction again. As said, let's see how this turns out now that the white-haired girl knows about her attending physician's condition... and Ruby knows that she knows. See you later!


	7. Four Awkward Reencounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, another chapter is done. It's (still) Monday and Weiss returns to the hospital. Let's see what will await her.

At the moment, Weiss was kinda happy... a feeling she had missed very much over the last week. She had eaten a healthy yet tasty breakfast, had been able to avoid any weird encounters on her way to the BGH's main building, and was currently sitting in a pretty interesting lecture while sipping her third cup of coffee. How in Remnant's sake had people been able to manage their everyday life before this deliciously addictive substance was invented?! The white-haired girl had no idea and didn't want to imagine a world without her favorite beverage either.

In short, her day had been awesome so far – actually, all of her last days had been. The moment she had left the hospital on Friday, it was like a leaden weight had been lifted from her shoulders. After that, a fantastic, stress-free weekend had helped her relax and process everything that had happened. All the studying she had to get done had been a piece of cake, too; Weiss was used to horrendous workloads anyway. In addition, doing something she was actually good at had been lifting her spirits even more.

However, her days of joy were about to come to an end together with this lecture – it was the last one for today and after it, she had to return to the ICU to continue her practical training. And that meant...

The whole weekend, the white-haired girl had tried to push _that_ to the back of her mind: Her attending physician, the unmakeable deadlines, the constant yelling, the annoying ramblings, and, worst of all, the girl's condition... Weiss had no idea how to approach Doctor Rose anymore now that she knew about her mental health issues.

Should she tell Ruby that Yang had told her? Or should she keep her mouth shut? Maybe the blonde had told her sister that she had spilled the younger girl's condition to her already. But if not...? Or if?! What if Ruby didn't approve of this invasion of privacy? Could this little monster get even worse?

So many questions were running wild in Weiss' mind that she almost overheard the bell. With a heavy sigh, the white-haired med student gathered her belongings, crammed them into her briefcase and left for her lunch break. Maybe she should talk with Yang about her worries – the nurse had told her that she could come to her with any problem, after all.

* * *

Unfortunately, the cafeteria was void of the blonde mane Weiss was looking for. Maybe Yang had been slacking off a bit too much today and had to catch up on her work. Or there had been an accident or something. Whichever way you looked at it, the blonde nurse wasn't there.

The white-haired girl's other self-proclaimed friends Nora and Ren didn't seem to be in the cafeteria as well, so Weiss decided to join Jaune and Pyrrha for lunch. In just a week she had learned that seeking company was a good way to take her mind off unpleasant things. How funny that something she had loathed during her time in Atlas had become a refreshing activity in such a short time.

The med students (more or less) enjoyed their meal and chatted about trivial stuff. Of course, Jaune and Pyrrha asked Weiss a few questions about her time with Doctor Rose but she managed to sate their curiosity with a few harmless comments about the last week. The white-haired girl knew better than telling them anything about the weird stuff she had found out about the crimsonette so far – she had made a promise to Yang, after all.

Soon, the lunch break was over. The students bid their goodbyes to one another and left to meet up with their respective attending physician. Before they parted, Pyrrha suggested that they should do something like this more often and, much to her own surprise, Weiss immediately agreed.

A single week... and it almost seemed like she was a completely different person. But then again, if it was for the better or the worse remained to be seen.

* * *

When the nurses' station of the ICU came into view, the white-haired girl saw Ruby already waiting for her. However, the crimsonette seemed to be busy with some files and hadn't noticed her yet. The thought of just turning around and running away again crossed Weiss' mind but she quickly shook it off. She was here to become a doctor, after all! Therefore, she made her way to the counter, trying to look confident... even though she was anything but that right now.

The moment the crimson-haired girl noticed her med student, she looked up from her files. Weiss almost thought she saw something like surprise in the doctor's eyes, but it quickly faded away and Ruby continued to scan the clipboard she was holding. There was an awkward silence.

"Hey.", the white-haired girl tried to break it after a while.

"Hey.", came a monotonous response.

"So... what are my tasks for today?", Weiss asked carefully. She had no idea which version of Ruby stood in front of her at the moment and, if she was honest, she wasn't all that eager to find out. Yet, she expected the worst.

"I wasn't expecting you to show up today after everything that had happened last week.", the young doctor said emotionless, "Especially on Friday."

"Well, it takes more than a few hurtful rants to discourage me.", the white-haired girl explained, "And even though I might have lost my composure a little that day, you won't be able to simply scare me away with that attitude... anymore."

"Actually, I was referring to my state of mental health since Yang had told you everything about it.", Ruby continued without looking up from her clipboard, "I thought that you may not want to work with someone who has that many issues."

Now that caught Weiss completely by surprise. So the young doctor knew that she knew about her condition. Even worse, Ruby's current behavior and tone of voice still gave no clue about which version of her was in control at the moment. Maybe this was just another plan of her mean half to break the med student's will...

"U-umm... Y-you see...", Weiss managed to stammer, not knowing how to proceed. She was pretty sure that she was going to be yelled at again any second now.

But then, something odd happened.

"Thank you...", Ruby sighed barely audible, "...for coming back. For not giving up on me."

'So it's the nice version of her!', the white-haired girl thought, 'Wait... this could be just another trick? Can I trust her words? If it's the friendly Ruby, she's telling the truth, if it's the other, she's most certainly lying. Urgh! This is so confusing!' Weiss' brain started to hurt already... and her shift had just begun!

"I know what you're thinking. You don't know if it's really the nice me.", the crimsonette suddenly said, "But believe me, I well and truly mean what I've said. I... I really like you and I want you to succeed as a physician. I don't want my first med student to be my last one just because... y'know... _her_."

Now that convinced Weiss completely. The evil version of her attending physician would never tell her something like that, not even in order to set up another scheme to scare her away. The white-haired girl wasn't even sure if the mean Ruby was capable of pronouncing some of the words in the presence of another person.

"Don't worry.", the med student reassured the younger girl, "As I said, it takes a lot more to discourage me."

"You say that now...", the young doctor continued, "But I understand if you want another attending physician eventually. And I can't blame you.", she quickly looked around and added in a whisper, "My other half will most certainly still try to get rid of you and won't spare any mean or ugly trick or method to accomplish that. So, well, don't force yourself to bear with me just because you pity me now... and get emotionally scarred in the process. I don't want that... you don't deserve this."

"That won't be the first thing I don't deserve but have to endure nonetheless.", Weiss said grumpily, but still determined, "I'm here to become a doctor and I _will_ become a doctor. Whatever anybody is going to throw at me, I won't let this put me off. Furthermore, you are a genius and, if I were to believe everything the other people in this hospital had told me so far, the best physician there is. Learning from you obviously has many advantages. Even your other half _has_ to teach me somehow, even though it is going to be accompanied by some insults or verbal attacks. I won't back down. So cheer up. As for now, you're stuck with me."

Then, the white-haired med student gave the girl in front of her a reassuring smile. She had promised Yang to try and bear with Ruby for some more time and she was dead set on not breaking this promise on her first day. And she was pretty sure that her response had gotten the point across. That Ruby's eyes visibly lit up again after hearing it confirmed her thoughts.

But what happened then threw her completely off guard.

"Thank you so much, Weiss.", Ruby sobbed and threw herself at the white-haired girl, pulling her into a tight embrace, "You have no idea how much that means to me. You're so awesome. I... I'm so happy to hear that."

The hug made it obvious: Weiss couldn't quit or change her attending physician anymore, even if she wanted to. Otherwise, it would most certainly leave another, irremediable mental scar on the crimson-haired girl... considering how fast this version of her got attached to people and how much she feared to be left by anyone. Maybe Weiss had overdone it a bit with her little speech.

'This is bad...', the med student thought while trying to wriggle herself out of the embrace... unsuccessfully.

* * *

This day, Weiss' workload was considerably smaller. The tasks she had to do this time were easier as well. And while the white-haired girl somehow welcomed a more relaxing day after everything she had been through the last week, she kinda felt... unchallenged. Was this Ruby's way of thanking her? Of winning her favor back? By demanding too little? That wasn't helping both of them at all. However, Weiss knew better than to address it – everything could change in the blink of an eye, after all.

Later that day, she had to return to the nurses' station once again to get some files for her attending physician. The moment she got there, she immediately noticed a mane of wild, blonde hair, the owner tapping away at the keyboard in front of her and quietly cursing from time to time.

"Hey, Yang.", the med student greeted the nurse casually, "I need the files of Mister Cherry."

"Don't get on my nerves, I'm busy right now!", came the unusually grumpy response, "Come on, you dumb rust bucket. Do what I want you to do!"

A beeping noise, obviously from an error, could be heard after a few more keypresses. Barely a second after that, Yang leaped up from her chair and grabbed the monitor, as if she wanted to smash it to pieces. But then she froze and tried to control her breathing again... and wasn't she quietly counting from ten downwards?

"What the hell do you want...", Yang began after she had calmed herself down and turned around, but then, she was taken aback, "Oh! Hey, Weiss. Didn't recognize you. Sorry 'bout my attitude. Someone fucked up all of my databases."

"Is there anyone in your family who doesn't have anger issues?", the white-haired girl asked nervously. She had taken a defensive stance since she had assumed the possibility of a computer monitor flung into her direction.

"I'm just taking my job seriously.", the nurse explained her actions with a grin, "If I don't find something I need immediately, it could endanger a patient's life, after all. So if somebody's messing with my files I can get a little... _yangry_." She then giggled at her lame pun while Weiss only sighed in annoyance.

"So, Weissicle. How's it going?", Yang suddenly asked and leaned into the counter. Apparently, she was glad about another opportunity to procrastinate.

"Decent, I'd say.", the med student answered, a little annoyed by the nickname, "But I guess that wasn't exactly what you wanted to know, right?" She raised her eyebrows knowingly.

"Damn, you're hella smart.", the blonde admitted with an awkward chuckle, "So... what's going on between you and Ruby? How did she react to the whole _You-know-about-her-condition_ thing?"

"So you told her you told me?", Weiss asked back, somewhat irritated.

"Well, not exactly. We had a talk and she kinda figured it out after the first sentence I said about you.", Yang explained, then she added apologetically, "Hey? What did you expect? She's a freaking genius. She reads science tomes for fun."

"Well, I guess that kinda makes sense...", the white-haired girl sighed.

"So? How's it going between you and Ruby?", the blonde asked again, "Haven't actually seen her all day since I was busy working in another department. Even had to skip lunch." The last part was spoken in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Well, actually, it's going pretty smoothly.", Weiss explained, "Maybe it's because I only had to deal with her nice version so far. She took it pretty well that I know about her condition and thanked me for not giving up on her. She even hugged me, can you believe it? Who does this to someone you barely know?"

"Oh...", Yang simply responded. It sounded concerned.

"What do you mean by _oh_?", the white-haired girl asked confused... and a little anxious.

"Well, you see...", the blonde began and scratched the back of her head, "If both versions of my sister deal in absolutes and the nice version treats you even nicer now..."

"You think the mean version of her is going to make my life even more miserable from now on?", Weiss finished her friend's sentence and a fearful expression crept to her face.

"Umm, not necessarily.", Yang quickly replied, not wanting to scare the med student off, "I-I mean, I'm not a psychiatrist... or a pretty smart person in general. Maybe my sister's other half will treat you better now that you know about her condition."

"That doesn't sound very convincing.", the med student noted.

"Yeah, well... A-anyway, you said you wanted a file, right?", the blonde tried to change the subject, "Cherry, was it? Coming right up!" Then, she started to rummage through some documents.

'This little girl is going to kill me someday, I'm sure of it.', Weiss thought while she watched Yang trying to organize the chaos on her desk. When she finally got her files, she wasn't looking forward to returning to Ruby anymore.

* * *

However, as the day went on, Ruby remained friendly. Maybe Weiss didn't have to worry about her other half until tomorrow or, with a little luck, even longer. She checked the time on her Scroll. There were only two hours left until her shift was over. Could it be that her luck had returned?

Yet another time she had to return to nurses' station to get a bunch of files for Ruby. Much to her surprise, Yang was gone again. Instead, Blake was sitting behind the counter, obviously waiting for the blonde's return and doing some paperwork to busy herself. Weiss didn't mind – she was on friendly terms with the psychiatrist (apparently the only other normal person in this damned hospital) and wouldn't need Yang's assistance to get the documents she needed. Despite the blonde's lack of order, the white-haired girl was certain that she could find them on her own.

"Hey, Weiss.", Blake immediately greeted her the moment she was within earshot, "How are you?"

"Oh, fine, thanks for asking.", the med student replied politely, "This is actually the first day here that isn't a complete disaster."

"So I guess Ruby doesn't mind that you know about her condition.", the psychiatrist said nonchalantly, which caught Weiss by surprise again.

"Is there anyone in this hospital who doesn't know about the fact that I know this?", the white-haired girl asked, her tone a mixture of astonishment and annoyance, "So I assume Yang told you that she let me in on it as well."

"This woman is as subtle as a neon advertisement.", Blake explained with a chuckle, "But in her defense, it _is_ my job to read people, after all. But back to Ruby. How's she acting around you now?"

"Is this conversation going to turn into some kind of psychoanalysis?", Weiss asked.

"Nope, I'm just curious.", the raven-haired woman responded, "I've been told recently that real psychiatric work includes someone lying on a sofa mourning their life and me drawing circles on my notepad while asking _"And how does that make you feel?"_ every few minutes?"

Upon Weiss' confused look, she added: "Sorry. Inside joke."

"Well, I've only interacted with Ruby's nice version so far and she took my knowledge about her condition pretty well. She thanked me for not giving up on her and even hugged me.", the med student summarized again, "And since her nice version treats me even nicer now, I can expect her mean version to be even more despicable, am I right?"

"That sounds pretty much like Yang-logic.", Blake responded with a grin, "It was her who told you that, huh?" Weiss only nodded.

"Ruby's condition isn't that easily generalizable.", the psychiatrist continued, "I mean, of course, she will still be malicious towards you from time to time, but just because her one half acts friendlier now doesn't mean her other is subsequently more hostile. If it would be that simple, I wouldn't have such a hard time understanding this girl... well, girls."

"So you think Ruby's mean half won't treat me worse now?", the white-haired girl asked, trying to sound indifferent – and not as hopeful as she actually was.

"That remains to be seen.", Blake simply replied, "However, I know that she can be quite a handful sometimes. I guess you do as well by now. So... whenever you need some advice or just want to talk, feel free to pay me a visit. My door is always open."

Now that statement confused Weiss.

"You mean... like a therapy session?", the white-haired girl asked.

"Well, I won't charge you, so...", Blake answered with a chuckle, trying to make the situation less awkward despite the topic they were talking about.

"I don't think I completely understand what you are trying to say.", Weiss said and her confusion only grew. Was this woman really implying that she would need professional help anytime soon?

"I didn't mean that I assume you're going to go insane someday because of Ruby.", the raven-haired woman explained as if she could read the girl's mind, "I'm just trying to say that it can be helpful to talk to a neutral person from time to time... about stuff that's bothering you and you're uncomfortable telling anyone else."

"Well, I appreciate the offer but I'm pretty sure that won't be necessary.", the med student responded, trying to sound composed. However, Blake could sense that her acquaintance was anything but fond of the thought of going to a psychiatrist... and she was sure that there was a reason for this repulsion.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me.", the raven-haired woman said nonchalantly, "I won't tell anybody... and not just because I'm morally and legally obliged to do so."

"Thanks a lot. But don't worry about me. I promise you, I'm totally fine.", Weiss said overly firmly before grabbing the clipboard she was looking for and returning to work, "And I'm definitely going to survive this two years without therapy!"

She won't...

* * *

The beeping of Weiss' pager a few seconds later and reading the message she had received made her doubt her last statement as well: "Hey there, Ice Queen. Guess who's back?"

'Oh no...'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Weiss... Seems like the rest of the day is going to be tough. Let's hope Blake and Yang are right with their assumptions and evil Ruby won't be too hard on the white-haired girl.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. I hope it turned out decent, even though I had kind of a writer's block on this fic the last couple days/weeks. Hopefully, the next chapter will turn out a little more interesting again. Stay tuned!


	8. Predictions...

Weiss anxiously walked through the ICU to meet up with Ruby again... with _this_ Ruby. She knew exactly what was going to happen now: Impossible deadlines, colorful insults, wrongful rants... Her earlier conversation with Yang came to her mind – if the nice version of the crimsonette was treating her even nicer now, then... The white-haired girl immediately got a queasy feeling in her stomach.

She couldn't believe it. That was her luck! Only two hours left on her shift and yet, she had to deal with this mean, little shit again. Why, in all of Remnant's sake, did this have to happen now?

Ruby had told her to meet her at the laboratory. However, the walk to it seemed like ascending the scaffold to Weiss. But the med student knew that she mustn't show her repulsion once she would face her attending physician again. This girl was only waiting for a weakness, like a predator, to strike mercilessly once her prey was inattentive. The white-haired girl had already made up her mind, after all: She would try everything within her power to survive these two years under Ruby's thumb. A promise was a promise.

Weiss already saw the crimson-haired girl waiting for her in the hallway, talking to whomsoever and exchanging some files. The young doctor behaved pretty normally and polite, like always when she was around anybody besides her. Unfortunately, the guy Ruby was conversing with quickly returned to his lab – so much for some kind of back-up.

* * *

"Hey there, Ice Queen! Took you long enough!", the young doctor exclaimed the moment she noticed her med student, "Did you miss me?" A devious grin spread across her lips after she had said this.

'Don't react to that, Weiss.', the white-haired girl warned herself inwardly, 'That's exactly what she wants.'

"Hello, Doctor Rose.", she simply responded, "I'm looking forward to working with you again."

"As in _this version_ of me, right?", Ruby asked and her grin grew even wider, "Since you know how my whole condition works..."

"Your sister explained the essentials to me.", Weiss replied politely, "Every time I interacted with your other half today, you were present, observing, and never missed a single thing. A pretty... interesting form of a mental disorder, if you allow me this estimation."

"Oh, looks like you've done your homework.", the crimsonette chirped sweetly and started walking down the corridor, "Never would've guessed. I thought you were too busy either adulating yourself and your fucked-up family or crying in the shower while eating pie over a life well wasted."

"Flatterer.", the med student responded nonchalantly and with a hint of sarcasm as she followed her attending physician. She didn't want to give this Ruby the satisfaction of making her feel miserable anymore.

"By the way... is there any kind of health certificate among your registration files?", Ruby asked, trying to sound concerned, "You know... the hug. I was already in the decontamination shower... twice... but I'm still a little worried."

"I can assure you that I'm as healthy as can be... besides the scar you've already mentioned.", Weiss shot back, trying to sound sovereign.

"Well, maybe regarding the normal stuff...", the crimson-haired girl continued, "But did they also test you on loser germs? Because I think you're pretty contagious with those."

"Really? This again?", the med student huffed, "I thought you'd be a little more creative."

"Well, I'm not talking about the academic or qualification department... more like... the _losing in life_ department.", Ruby continued composed, "I mean... if there were a list of the biggest losers in world history, you would be second place."

"Why not first?", Weiss asked, but instantly regretted the question.

"Because you're a loser.", Ruby deadpanned. She didn't care if her argumentation was unlogical, it got her point across. However, Weiss had enough.

"Listen here, Doctor Rose. I know that it must be pretty amusing looking down at somebody you never even considered giving a change.", the white-haired girl explained, trying to keep her composure, "But just because you simply don't like being involved with other people doesn't give you the right to treat me like dirt. I'm smart, I'm qualified for the job, I've done everything within my power to leave my miserable life behind and start anew. Maybe I'm no genius but I'm more than capable of doing a med student's work. The only really significant difference between us is that I'm better than using our fucked up childhoods in an argument just to make the other feel miserable."

At this statement, Ruby's eyes narrowed to slits and an unreadable expression covered her face. Being reminded of _that_ was definitely something she didn't particularly appreciate. Weiss immediately noticed and she took a defensive stance. Even though a little pride welled up in her chest upon putting the young doctor off her stride, she wasn't sure if she had overstepped the mark this time. Yang had told her that Ruby's childhood and the death of her mother were still incredibly sensitive topics to her.

"Also... my condolences for your loss.", Weiss added honestly and in a conciliatory tone of voice, "I know that must've been pretty hard on you... still is, considering..." She cut herself off mid-sentence.

"Considering what?", Ruby asked, trying to sound indifferent, "Me consistently fighting with myself because of one, pretty lousy moment in my life? Don't worry about that, I'll manage. I've always managed. It's going to take more than a snobby little brat to throw me off balance by simply pitying me. I appreciate your condolences, _IF_ they weren't just empty words, but don't believe anything between us is going to change. You don't want me, I... _we_... don't need you. It's that simple." Even though she tried to be her usual, harsh self, the white-haired girl immediately noticed that there had been something set in motion in her mind.

"Well, then let us get back to work...", the med student quickly said, but then she reconsidered, "Unless there's something you want to talk about..."

The words had barely left her mouth before Ruby came to a halt, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. Weiss stopped a moment later and eyed the younger girl. Was her attending physician changing personalities again? Was this how it worked? Or had she said something stupid again? Probably the latter...

"Okay, I think we have to clarify some things before you get all lovey-dovey with me...", the crimsonette explained mockingly and annoyed, "I think Yang has given you a wrong expression of me, my other half and how everything works." Yup, apparently the latter...

"I'm all ears.", Weiss responded, even though an uneasy feeling started to creep through her body, "What do you want to clarify?"

"First of all, I don't need another psychiatrist, especially one as annoying as you. So stop asking if there's anything I want to talk about.", Ruby said in a stern voice, "There were two professionals involved in my case already, one that I still have to face every two weeks, and both of them didn't make any progress with me... us... And if you just want to make some meaningless chit-chat among friends, remember one thing: I'm not your friend. I'm your boss. My other half is also your boss and even though she tries to handle this all comradely, you're here to work. Nothing else, do you copy?"

"I do.", the med student simply answered. Even though she felt pretty anxious, she was smart enough to notice that this wasn't the usual Ruby-rant she was facing. No, this was most certainly something more meaningful. Therefore, she knew better than to make any witty retorts.

"Second...", the crimson-haired doctor continued, "I know I won't be able to scare you away with any pointless rants and insults, so I won't try that anymore – I'm not _that_ stupid. You made it pretty clear to my other half that you won't back down. And if I wouldn't despise you, I would appreciate your determination. Therefore, I'm just going to ignore your entire being to avoid that you become a significant part of my life. I'd rather have kidney stones than that."

"Umm... T-thank you... I guess?", Weiss responded since she didn't know how to react to that insult but still considered it progress.

"Third... You've mentioned that you think it's beneficial for you to learn under me.", the younger girl explained further and her devious grin reappeared, "So if you really meant that, I'm willing to give you a chance. But I'm going to teach you by the _Ruby Rose_ method."

"T-that sounds... acceptable...", the white-haired girl said, even though her whole body started to tremble with fear. But she knew that this was just a plan of her attending physician to intimidate her, so she tried to keep her composure. She wanted to become a doctor, after all, and if she would pull this girl's training through she would probably be one of the best... or die trying.

Ruby's grin grew even wider the moment she noticed her med student's reaction. For some reason, this girl was kinda cute: Trying so hard to hold on to her dream, albeit met with a hurdle she knew she won't be able to overcome. It somehow reminded her of... herself... No, this wasn't the time to walk down memory lane!

"You probably know how many med students quit after their first year... no, the first few months would be more accurate.", the crimsonette continued, "Depression... burnout... _suicide_... A lot of people are cracking under the pressure... because becoming a _real_ doctor isn't something you can do half-heartedly, no matter how smart or thick-skinned you are. And my style of teaching will be at least three... no, ten times harder than the regular training. You still think you can cope with that?"

"I-I can handle everything you're going to throw at me.", Weiss responded, still trying to sound confident.

"We'll see about that.", Ruby simply noted, "But just to get this straight: I'm not _torturing_ _you_ out of malice any more. I'm expecting what I do of you because you think you're better than everybody else. Or, to be more precise, I'm expecting anybody that wants to put up with me so vehemently to _be_ better than everybody else. Otherwise, you'll just be a waste of my time and my talent. Got that?!"

Without even waiting for a response, the crimsonette continued: "You'll have to deal with a lot of horrible stuff – stuff that most of the _regular_ med students won't even face in their first year. This job will chew you up and spit you out again, especially when you're actually too young to even be here! Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. It probably would've cost _me_ my sanity if I still had it at that time."

At these statements, Weiss audibly gulped. She had heard some horrible stories of med students not able to deal with all of the terrible stuff this job brought with it, after all. Admittedly, some of the gossip was most certainly exaggerated, but that didn't mean there wasn't any truth to it. And the people the tales were about obviously hadn't had to deal with someone like Ruby Rose.

"I have three predictions how this is going to turn out.", the young doctor concluded her little speech, "Number one: You stay at a distance and somehow try to survive these two years of tortu... training... something I highly doubt since I still believe you lack what it takes. B: You're going to demand a change of your attending physician within the next few weeks or months and leave me alone. In return, I promise I won't interfere with your training anymore because I will immediately forget that you've ever existed. And gamma: You're going to quit studying medicine entirely because you are cracking under the pressure or simply can't put up with everything you have to deal with if you want to take this job seriously. Maybe you'll try again after a few years when you've dealt with all of your complexes and succeeding or failing another time. I promise I won't give a damn since it won't be my problem anymore anyway."

She made a pause, probably for the dramatic effect, then she finished: "Your call, Ice Queen. What's it gonna be?"

For a moment, Weiss pondered over everything her attending physician had told her right now. Learning under Ruby was most certainly beneficial for her career... but on the other hand: it wouldn't be of any use if she would sacrifice her mental health by dealing with this little devil. She was pretty smart and ambitious, after all, and probably wouldn't need the extra challenge to become a decent doctor. And wouldn't it be easier to spend her two years at the BGH with someone who wasn't a complete lunatic?

No! She won't back down anymore just because someone was telling her to do so (like her father, for example). She had promised Yang as well as the not insufferable Ruby that they could count on her. Taking the easy road now would just be running away again. And that was something she was done with! For the first time in her life, this was her own choice to make... and she knew exactly that she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she would chicken out now – all rational thought aside...

"If I won't be able to handle a little child like you, then I'm most certainly not cut out for becoming a doctor.", the white-haired girl responded challenging, her boldness suddenly fresh and unspent, even upon an enemy she most certainly won't be able to hold a candle to, "Bring it on, Doctor Rose."

"In the risk of repeating myself... Wrong answer.", Ruby simply replied, "Well then, Ice Queen. Let the games begin!"

But then, suddenly, it seemed like the crimson-haired girl had some trouble to stay at her feet. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, leaning into the next wall for additional support. Weiss noticed that her attending physician went even paler than usual. The med student was on the verge of asking what was wrong before Ruby's fist slammed into the drywall, leaving a crack or two before she regained her composure.

"Sorry 'bout that. Hadn't eaten for a while.", the crimsonette came up with a fragile excuse, "Anyway, here's a list of things I want to be done before your shift is over. If you're unable to finish everything, you're working overtime. No excuses. Have I made myself clear?"

Then, she handed Weiss a hastily scribbled note. The white-haired girl took it and was suddenly taken aback. The only reason for this piece of paper existing was that Ruby had probably expected this kind of outcome. Maybe even the mean half of the girl didn't believe that she was entirely useless... or at least wanted to try and cope with her for the time being.

"I have understood.", Weiss responded politely, "I'll make sure that everything will be executed to your full satisfaction."

With these words, she wanted to turn around and proceed to her duties. However, she was suddenly called back by her attending physician.

"One more thing, Ice Queen.", Ruby said, her eyes full of anger again, "Stay at a distance with me... especially with my other half! Unlike me, she can't _not_ give a fuck about you and your futile existence."

Again, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. A hand wandered to her temple and clawed at her hair. After that, without a warning, the crimsonette ripped a few strands out and took a deep breath. Weiss immediately took a step back.

"Yeah, I know you're listening... but I don't care about your opinion right now!", Ruby suddenly spat, looking to the ground, "It's my way of handling things at the moment, so shut up! Yeah, whatever. Die and stay dead."

Then, she faced Weiss once again and finished, a weary expression on her face: "Pretty intimidating to partner up with a psycho, huh?"

"I... umm...", the med student responded, not knowing what to say.

"Let me just get this straight one more time and then you're on your way.", Ruby said, "If any fragment of my being is going to suffer because of you, I won't hesitate to crush your entire existence. Your career, your social life, everything. Keep that in mind and do how I've told you... You're dismissed."

After this ominous statement, the crimsonette straightened herself, quickly scanned the files she was carrying and left. Weiss was left behind, still rooted to the ground and kind of petrified.

"Oh, before I forget...", Ruby yelled over her shoulder, not even bothering by slowing down, "I'm going to find any results or meds you're gathering for me at the ICU's nurses' station. If I see your annoying face anywhere near when I'm collecting them, you'll be done for. Have a beautiful day, Ice Queen." Then, the crimson-haired doctor disappeared behind the next corner.

Weiss still stood there for a while and tried to process everything that had just happened. Now, there _really_ was no way out anymore. She had made her stance clear to both Ruby's – there was no turning back. The white-haired girl didn't know how things would be between them from now on, but she did know one thing for sure at the moment: The crimsonette would most certainly carry out her last threat.

* * *

Again, Weiss was forced to run around the hospital like crazy: getting meds, taking stuff to the laboratory, retrieving files, making admission orders, patient's histories, examinations... The note Ruby had given her easily contained the work of two full days. And despite that, her beeper went berserk every few minutes. But the white-haired girl had already said that she won't back down. She would, most certainly, have to work overtime after all, but she didn't want to give her attending physician the satisfaction of being right with her assumption the same day the crimsonette had made it.

As fucked up as everything seemed at the moment... even the mean half of her attending physician was willing to give her a chance – and Weiss won't let this opportunity go to waste. Now, it was her time to shine, her time to prove that she was more than looks and names. She wasn't the little, pampered girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth everyone thought she was. She never had been! This was her life, her choice, her way of doing things! And she wouldn't want to have it any other way!

"Wow... Weiss is really ambitious, don't you think?", Blake asked Yang as she observed the white-haired girl trying to make Ruby's impossible deadlines, "Even more than usual today." She as well as the blonde were currently at the nurses' station and, as always, the black-haired woman was enjoying a pretty late lunch (no tuna this time, though).

"I kinda feel bad for telling her everything.", Yang responded as she watched the white-haired girl dropping files on top of the counter and leaving without sparing a single word to them, just acknowledging their existence with a friendly yet hurried wave.

"Well, she _does_ have her hands full with your sister's tasks.", Blake noted and took a bite of her BLT, "But she does it out if her own free will. She would've other options, after all. To be honest, I'd have never thought anyone would put up with your sister after knowing about her condition. I'm pretty impressed..."

"Yeah, I know...", the blonde nurse said, but then she reconsidered, "Wait... wait do you mean by _putting up with her_?"

"On a psychiatric point of view... it's incredibly interesting.", the raven-haired woman responded, "If anything goes according to my assumptions, Weiss will most certainly be the first person ever to breach Ruby's barriers. As long as she survives a few weeks longer under her mean version's thumb, that is..."

"So, umm...", Yang began, a mixture of curiosity and worry in her voice, "Do you think Weiss will change my sister somehow? Whatever this means..."

"As a matter of fact, I do.", Blake replied composed, "This is a pretty big step in Ruby's life. It may sound a little overdramatic, but for her, it'll be like she has to accept a new family member... well, kinda..."

"Don't talk all coded with me.", the blonde nurse demanded, "What do you think this whole stuff will do to Ruby?"

"Ruby was never forced to leave her _comfort_ _zone_ , so to speak.", the black-haired psychiatrist explained, "Since everything regarding her... condition... had begun, she was always in familiar company. Your dad, you, my mother... even myself since I kinda became her friend during her therapy sessions when I was a child and Ruby was still in the early stages of her mental health issues. In short: when your sister's condition had become a _real_ problem, all the people she had to accept in her life were already well-known individuals to her. Even though _I_ am in charge of her therapy sessions now, she still knows me from an early age. Same goes for you, my mom, and Taiyang anyway... and Summer..."

At the mention of Ruby's mother's name, a sad expression started to cover Yang's face. However, she quickly shook it off since she knew her friend hadn't finished her speech yet.

"Well, what I'm trying to say is...", Blake continued, "Every single person your sister had to deal with so far was a part of her life before all of _that_ had happened. She may try to behave like a normal girl towards the nurses, doctors, and other staff members she has to deal with on a regular basis but in the end, she doesn't have to do that much with these people. It's different with Weiss."

"Because Weiss kinda is her personal assistant now?", Yang asked, "Or... more like, her responsibility, right? Like a puppy?"

"That's a pretty weird comparison.", the black-haired girl responded, "But I see you get the idea. Ruby is forced to deal with Weiss a whole lot more and subsequently on a way more personal level than with anyone else of her colleagues. Must be pretty stressful for her, especially for her withdrawn half."

"Now that you mention it, she is a lot... _switchier_... than usual since she knew about the whole med student thing.", the blonde pondered, "And even more so since she had met Weiss in person."

"Yeah, I've noticed.", Blake simply replied.

"Do you think this is going to be for the better...", Yang asked carefully, "...or maybe the worse."

"That remains to be seen...", the psychiatrist responded mysteriously, deep in thought.

As fate would have it, Ruby suddenly appeared at the nurses' station to get a few files. She gave her sister and Blake a curt nod and grabbed the clipboard Weiss had dropped off a few minutes ago. As the young doctor scanned it, she raised her eyebrows, and Blake even noticed a hint of appreciation in her facial expression. However, as soon as it had come, Ruby shook it off, stole Yang's coffee with a mischievous grin and went back to work, accompanied by a slightly annoyed "You're welcome, sis." from the blonde.

"But I think we're on to something bigger here.", Blake finally finished with a small smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww... even though she does it in her own wicked, twisted way, mean Ruby is just trying to protect her other half and secretly cares about her. Okay, it's more like protecting herself since they are the same person, kinda... but still. Also, it seems that Weiss is making some progress with her attending physician and vice versa. Let's see how things will go from here.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments. I know it was mostly just dialogue but I still like to believe it moved the plot along, if only a bit. But now that the basic rules of Ruby and Weiss working together are clear, I think we can progress a little faster now. Still, I don't know exactly how to set the pace on this story since I don't want to just jump to the key points, but I hope I'll figure that out soon. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter. I'll see you there.


	9. Me, Myself, and I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Ruby-chapter! Most of the time, we've seen the girl(s) only from the outside and how they've interacted with other people. But what exactly happens on the inside? Should we really judge a book just by the cover? Well, how about we take a look behind the mask... masks... you get the idea.
> 
> Warning! Pretty confusing chapter ahead. I tried to make it clear which Ruby says what with their expressions to avoid writing "evil Ruby/nice Ruby said, responded, etc." every time. I hope it's somewhat obvious who is speaking. Anyway, enjoy!

'Could you pleeeaaase stop treating Weiss like dirt now? You've seen these files. They're at least as good as something we would've done ourselves.'

'Have you overslept my earlier conversation with this stuck-up annoyance? The plan is to not interact with her at all anymore.'

'That's not nice, either. She's trying really hard and she is actually pretty useful.'

'Wow! A med student who doesn't quadruple the work of their attending physician. Call the Atlesian Book of Records.'

'Why do you have to be like this all the time. Weiss didn't do anything to deserve this. We're supposed to be a team!'

'Just so you know, I'm doing this for you. You're the one who always gets overly attached to people and is devastated when they eventually leave you again. Do you really think Weiss will stay at Beacon when her training is finished?'

'Well, if you continue to be so hostile towards her, then definitely not, you big meanie. I'm pretty sure she will stay if we treat her more nicely... right?'

'Urgh... How can someone who's that smart be so naive? This girl is a screwed up Atlesian princess. As soon as her training is finished, she will set up a fancy private practice somewhere else, where she can be the queen and treat her underlings like garbage.'

'Whatcha talking about? Just because you're mean to your co-workers doesn't mean that everybody else is, especially Weiss.'

'Oh, really?! May I refresh your memory of the first time we met her? Well, when _you_ collided with her, to be more precise. You were all "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry! It was an accident." and she was all "blah blah blah, everyone but me is shit, yada yada yada, most important girl in the world, masturbating to a picture of myself".'

'Eww... don't be gross!'

'I just wanted to make a point. Stop being so prude. We do that, too... well, not to a picture of ourselves. Would make everything even weirder than it already is.'

'A-anyway, this collision on the first day had been my fault, so you can't be mad at her for getting upset. You can't blame her for not taking us seriously, either. She's a super-smart and beautiful med student and we look like a simple high schooler, especially without a lab coat. She couldn't have known that we're a doctor back then.'

'This isn't about not taking us seriously. It's about how she treats people, even strangers, in general.'

'Says the girl who does exactly the same. No, you're even worse than she had been.'

'That's something entirely different. I'm just giving her a taste of her own medicine. Before I realized it was her at the ICU on the first day, I wanted to handle things professionally. Distant, but professionally. It's the Ice Queen's own fault that things are as they are now. That kind of company isn't what we need, especially you. Therefore, I tried to get rid of her so vigorously.'

'Stop treating me like a little child! I can make my own decisions.'

'Listen here, doofus. This girl made a choice, and so did I. And I won't change my way of doing things. Either she becomes something we can somehow work with without sacrificing the last bit of sanity we have left, or she gives up after a few weeks and we get our peace and quiet back.'

'Urgh... you just can't be reasoned with, you... you... dolt!'

'Look who's becoming Ice Queen Junior. By the way, you do realize that she hadn't addressed _me_ with this nickname back then, do you?'

'Well, umm... that might be true, but it fits _you_ way better!'

'Shut your face already... Why do we waste our time talking about this snobby brat anyway?'

* * *

"Hey, sis!", a sudden voice shook Ruby out of her trance, "How's it going?" The crimsonette looked up and was greeted with the sight of a grinning Yang leaning on the counter of the nurses' station. Apparently, the blonde was eager to chat – out of cheerfulness as well as in order to have another reason to slack off again.

"As always...", Ruby sighed and gave her sister a weak smile, "Fortunately, I've figured out a pretty good way to deal with my med student."

"And that means...", Yang asked carefully. The younger girl's statement made it obvious which version of her was in charge at the moment.

"I've told the Ice Queen to drop off anything she has to get for me here at the nurses' station.", the crimsonette explained, "That way, I don't have to see her annoying face anymore. I've also told her that there will be... _dire_ consequences if I were about to meet her here."

"That's...", the blonde pondered, unsure how to express herself, "...progress, I guess."

"Yeah, I'm getting soft.", Ruby said with a sarcastic smile, but then she got contemplative, "Maybe too soft... Maybe I shouldn't give her this chance."

"Nonononono!", Yang quickly exclaimed, "You've solved this situation perfectly! No need to make Weiss' life the living hell again. She seems pretty useful at the moment and even doesn't bother you anymore. Win-win, right?"

"No need to freak out, sis.", Ruby appeased the nurse with a teasing grin, "I was only joking. This girl seems to be pretty determined to bear with me, so there's probably no use in trying to get rid of her anymore... unless she screws up completely, that is. But for now, we keep it as I've said."

"Whew... that's a relief and a half.", the blonde sighed, "It's, well, good to hear that you two kinda came to an arrangement."

"For now.", the young doctor repeated ominously and grabbed a clipboard, scanning some results.

"But, umm...", Yang suddenly mentioned, "You know that you have to _really_ interact with her eventually. At the latest when you have to teach her the practical stuff."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.", Ruby dismissed her sister's comment, "I can probably come up with a plan to outsource this to somebody else when the time has come. I'm pretty clever, after all."

Of course, both girls knew that this option was highly unlikely: Weiss' training was completely Ruby's responsibility. However, Yang knew better than to address it – she was glad that even the withdrawn version of her sister was willing to give the med student a chance, as small as it was at the moment. Blake had told her that this was already a good thing, after all. Therefore, the blonde nurse quickly tried to change the topic.

"By the way, I texted with Dad again today.", she said, "Apparently, he has as much free time at the police station as I have here."

"You mean, he just tries to procrastinate doing his paperwork.", Ruby responded dryly.

"Hey, we're just people who have sorted out their priorities.", Yang explained with a grin, "Give me a real emergency that doesn't involve typing stupid stuff on a keyboard and I'm working for five people." Putting it that way was, of course, an exaggeration, but there was still some truth to it – if the blonde would possess another pair of arms, it might even be somewhat realistic.

"Please skip the _I'm a nurse, not a secretary_ lecture and get to the point.", the young doctor sighed (she knew all too well how much her sister hated organizational matters), "There's a reason why you've told me about your conversation with our dad."

"Fine, then. Sometimes I forget how smart you are.", the nurse said, "He's told me that he wants to visit his girls again over the upcoming weekend here in Vale. All three of them." She chuckled a bit at the last comment but quickly stopped doing so upon Ruby's somewhat annoyed glance.

"So, in short, he wants to check on me.", the crimsonette noted, "How I'm holding up because I'm, well... psychologically disturbed, speaking in technical terminology."

"He doesn't want to check on you.", Yang quickly explained, "He just hasn't seen you in a while. And Dad will always be Dad: He will never stop worrying about us – that includes _me_ , too. Even though I'm already SOOO grown up and responsible." Now it was Ruby's turn to chuckle a bit which caused Yang to smile as well. It was pretty rare that this version of her sister was laughing at one of her jokes.

"I'm just telling you all of this so you won't work through the entire weekend again.", the blonde continued, "I know you're always bored shitless when you're forced to take a day off, but now you could eliminate one of your hated vacation days and still have something nice to do."

"I can always attend an internship in another department of the hospital during my vacation time.", Ruby simply responded with a shrug, "My surgery skills are getting pretty rusty."

"But that wouldn't be spending time with your loved ones.", Yang explained, a little annoyed by her sister's subtle tries to make excuses, "Come on, it'll be fun. We could eat somewhere fancy, Dad's paying, of course, hehe... and then maybe bowling, or karaoke, or whatever. Maybe you could even convince him to do some of your nerd stuff... and I don't care about that either after the fourth beer. Also, you already turned our old man down last weekend." The last part sounded a little reproachful.

"That was an accident.", the young doctor lied, "It... it kinda slipped my mind."

"Nice try, sis. But nothing just _slips your mind_.", the blonde noted, "I know you always remember everything, even something incredibly unimportant like what you ate for lunch exactly five years ago today."

Ruby let out an annoyed grunt and averted her gaze. Of course, her sister was right and the crimsonette suddenly hated herself for not having come up with a better lie. However, when it came to family matters, both of her personalities still acted like the little girls they ultimately were. They suddenly weren't geniuses anymore, just daughters or little sisters, respectively.

"You know you can tell me everything.", Yang said, her tone a mixture of sisterly love and concern, "Why didn't you want to visit Dad last weekend? Or all the other times? It's not the first time something like that happened, after all."

"It's not that I don't want to...", the crimson-haired girl sighed, "It's just, well..."

"If I'm about to hear the story of him suffering everytime he sees you because of Mom and your condition and all that crap, I'm putting you over my knee.", the nurse fake-threatened with a challenging grin, "It's Dad, Rubes. He loves you more than anything in the world and wants to spend as much time with you as possible. Always remember: I'm the bad daughter in this family, partying all night long while still sixteen while you were the good, ambitious and hard-working girl." Upon hearing this, Ruby let out a defeated sigh, yet, a small smile crept to her face again.

"Fine... I'll try to get a day or two off so we can spend some time together.", the young doctor gave in.

"Now that's what I wanted to hear.", Yang cheered with a beaming smile, however, it quickly faltered, "Oh, shoot... there's Goodwitch. Better get back to work. She's going to kill me if I don't get my stuff done today. I'm already on her shit list anyway."

"Who can blame her, though?", Ruby asked and gave her sister a somewhat scolding look. The head nurse's seriousness and diligence didn't exactly go well with her subordinate's _slackitude_ regarding the paperwork. But of course, Glynda Goodwitch knew how incredibly well Yang cared for the patients... probably the only reason why the younger blonde had never been suspended... yet.

"Well, whatever.", Yang shrugged and quickly sat down behind her computer screen before her boss would notice that she had been slacking off again, "Your shift's almost over, am I right?"

"Yeah, but I guess I'll stay a little longer again.", the crimsonette explained, "I have to make sure that the Ice Queen actually finishes her work."

"Oh no, you won't.", the nurse scolded her sister, "You're working overtime way too often. Today, you either go home punctually, or I'll drag your sorry ass out of this hospital myself."

"No can do, Yang.", Ruby responded matter-of-factly, "I've given Weiss a crapload of stuff to do and I want to be here when she cracks under the pressure." At the last part, a devious grin appeared on her face.

"Sorry to tell you, but I don't think this is going to happen anytime soon.", Yang said, "I'm pretty sure that this girl will pull through everything you throw at her or die trying."

"I'm not completely against the last option.", the crimson-haired girl said with a chuckle. However, her sister's reaction made it obvious that she had taken the joke too far.

"Ruby!", the blonde exclaimed scoldingly, "This isn't something anybody should joke about. And that's coming from the foremother of the tasteless and inappropriate jokes." Upon hearing this, a somewhat rueful expression appeared on the crimsonette's face, yet, she quickly shook it off.

"Calm down, geez.", the young doctor sighed, "You know I didn't mean it. I'm difficult, not a monster."

"Nevertheless, if Weiss collapses and gets hospitalized because you demand too much of her, I'm trying everything within my power to make sure that you have to treat her.", the nurse said.

"Urgh... fine.", the crimsonette relented (reluctantly), "I'm texting her that she can call it quits when my shift is over. But not a single minute sooner. I've promised her to push her hard, after all, and I'm not going to be too soft on her after her cockiness. _She_ asked for this."

"At least try to be fair.", Yang requested, "She's trying her best. And she's doing a pretty amazing job. I'd even say she's about as good as you were during your clinical studies."

"Two years is a long time.", Ruby simply responded, grabbed a few files and turned around to leave.

"And remember to take the weekend off!", the blonde cat-called at her sister, "Dad and I are already looking forward to it! Would be a nice change of pace for you, too!" The crimsonette just gave her a wave of acknowledgment as she continued to walk down the corridor.

Suddenly, a reproachful voice piped up in Ruby's head:

'You're not actually planning to take a day off to spend some time with Dad and Yang, aren't you?'

'What gave you the idea?', came the sarcastic, mental response.

'And what about Weiss?'

'Don't get on my tits, annoyance...'

* * *

Time flew by and Ruby's shift eventually came to an end. She wasn't really fond of leaving the BGH that soon (it was the norm that she worked overtime, after all), but staying today was probably a bad idea after her conversation with Yang. The crimsonette was sure that her sister would carry out her threat of personally dragging her out of the hospital... this had happened before.

The young doctor even texted Weiss that she was also allowed to call it a day. Ruby knew that Yang would continue to annoy her when she saw the med student around the ICU after her actual shift was over. And even though the crimsonette didn't actually want to let Weiss off the hook, the white-haired girl wasn't worth the trouble she would get with her sister.

After she had sent the message, Ruby checked out, changed her clothes and left the hospital. Now, the least favorite part of her day began: Heading home without knowing what to do with herself. Watching TV didn't appeal to her, yet, it was probably the best option to kill some time. She could read some medical journals online, yet, it was highly unlikely that there was a research breakthrough she had missed in just one day. She didn't have any friends... well, her nicer half had some, but she kept them on a distance... and not just out of selfishness.

The walk home was as uneventful as always. The same streets, the same shops, the same cars and trees – it was relieving that nothing had changed. To Ruby, any kind of change had always been a bad thing, the more drastic the worse. The worst one had been the empty chair at the breakfast table when she had been four years old...

Ruby soon arrived at her destination: A small, yet appealing residential complex still somewhat near the hospital. She went inside and climbed the stairs until she stood in front of the door which's bell nameplate read "Rose/Xiao Long." She fished her keys out of her pockets, opened the entrance and stepped into the small apartment she shared with Yang.

Their flat was anything but fancy: The small, living-kitchen area was furnished with a fridge, a simple stove, a sink unit and a few shelves to the left. A microwave and a coffee maker stood in the corner of the countertop. On the right, slightly larger part of the room stood a three seater with a coffee table. There was a modest-sized flatscreen TV mounted on the wall opposite to the couch and a large and heavy bookcase stood next to it. The two girls didn't need an actual dining table – there wasn't much room to set one up anyway.

Three doors in the back of the open-plan kitchen led to a couple of different rooms. The left one was the bathroom, equipped with a toilet, a shower bath combination and a sink. The middle one belonged to Yang – the sign that read "Tips on how to enter my room properly: 1. Don't!" was a clear indicator of that. It was slightly larger than Ruby's... not that the younger girl was bothered by that. It contained a queen-sized bed, a desk with a laptop on top of it, a punching bag, an orderless stack of magazines (both normal and adult) in the corner, and a somewhat large wardrobe. The room to the right was Ruby's. Only furnished with a single-sized bed, a desk and laptop, another bookshelf, and a small dresser, it was an epitome of modesty.

Yang had always been a bit displeased with their housing situation. Her sister earned a lot of money, after all, and didn't even have to pay back a student loan since she had gotten a full scholarship for her medical education – she was a genius, after all. However, Ruby didn't care about wealth, fancy apartments, other expensive stuff and the like. She was living a modest life and didn't need that much herself. Every month, she paid a fixed amount of her money into her account and gave the rest to charity and medical research.

* * *

Ruby closed the door behind her and kicked her boots off, then, she went to the fridge, grabbed an instant meal and put it into the microwave. After that, she turned on the TV, waited for her food to finish heating, took it out and sat down on the couch. It was almost like a ritual to her – she savored the routine at home since every unexpected event could cause her to change personalities again. Also, her job was already stressful enough.

The flavorless food was depressing, the TV shows that ran at the moment were it as well. Even the weather decided to add to the gloomy atmosphere as it suddenly started to rain heavily. Ruby didn't mind that much – such a depressing end of the day fit her always kind of depressing life perfectly.

As fate would have it, her phone suddenly started to ring. The crimsonette grabbed it only to frown after she took a look at the display. The three letters were the last she wanted to read at the moment: "Dad".

Ruby tossed her phone back onto the couch and continued to eat her Salisbury steak. She really didn't want to talk to her father at the moment. After about a minute, the annoying device went silent again. However, the younger girl's mind didn't.

'What are you doing?!', echoed the voice in Ruby's head, 'You can't just reject a call from Dad! Now he's going to worry about us.'

'Don't get our panties in a knot... because I'm the one wearing them at the moment.", came the annoyed mental response, 'He will call Yang afterwards and she will tell him that everything is alright with us. Besides, Dad won't be mad at you anyway. He knows exactly which one of us rejected his call.'

'But why don't you want to talk to him? Even though you're, well, _you_... you love Dad, too. And Dad loves you and you know it.'

'He loves _you_. He _tolerates_ me. Big difference. You're the one who comes closest to his little girl.'

'That doesn't matter to him. We're both his daughter. And Dad loves both of us unconditionally.'

'His daughter is _dead_ , idiot! What's left of her is an overly attached, way too nice, annoying wimp, afraid of every confrontation, and a grumpy, despicable psychopath, both just sharing the same body. We're not the real Ruby! We're just by-products of a psychotrauma.'

'I know, alright?! Urgh... But we should still act like his daughter. Even though we aren't exactly her, we're still, umm... fragments of her former being. That's at least something, isn't it? We shouldn't make it any harder for Dad than it already is.'

'But even though I'm trying not to be an asshole to him, it's... different than when he's with you. I can't stand his fake reassurances and that he tries to bear with me despite the fact that he doesn't really like me. You're his favorite. Well, not that there's much competition.'

'Are you... jealous of me?'

'Pfff... Not a chance. There are so many situations you are completely useless in. For example, you can't speak your mind openly. You can't even argue with Yang because you're so afraid of hurting someone. That's why you need me. And I need you for all this stupid, emotional crap I hardly care about but which is still necessary sometimes. What's going on between us is a complementary dependency, nothing more. If I could handle my everyday life without you, I would already research a compound to completely suppress your very existence. But we need the other... in our own, weird, twisted ways.'

'I understand that, thank you very much. But I'm trying to work on myself. And you should, too. It's up to you to take the first step, after all.'

'Even if I want to, which I don't, I _can't_. You can't, either. Even though we aren't head-shrinkers, we are smart enough to know what an OCD is. Trying to fight our psychoses only results in pain, fear and other pretty nasty stuff. And I'm not completely sure what's your opinion on that, but I think we're suffering enough already.'

'Maybe we should talk with Blake about that. I know you don't take her seriously... I mean, even I am skeptical given our _progress_ over the last few years...'

'Which is non-existent...'

'Let me finish. What I'm trying to say is that maybe she can help us with that somehow. For Dad, and Yang... and Weiss.'

'Why are we having this conversation anyway?! We manage. We've always managed.'

'But things are different now. We're responsible for another human being. Shouldn't we at least try to be a little... better than we are at the moment?'

'If you're really _that_ fascinated about this white-haired waste of time, I'll treat you like my child and her like an unwanted pet, then. If it dies, I promise to buy you a new one that looks exactly like the old and you won't even notice that anything has changed.'

'Not this again! Stop being sarcastic!'

'I've given her a chance and I'm trying not to verbally assault her anymore! What else do you want, you little nuisance?!'

'I want you to be nicer... please... I know this isn't easy for you as much as it isn't easy for me to speak my mind. But... at least try. For me... and for her.'

'This conversation is over.'

'No... it's not. It's never over.'

'I know. But... just shut up now or I'm drugging ourselves with everything I can find in the medicine cabinet.'

'To be honest... I'd welcome that at the moment.'

* * *

Late this night, Ruby couldn't find any sleep. Fortunately, her other half wasn't making any conversation attempts anymore, yet, the withdrawn version of the crimsonette knew that she was there, listening to her every thought. Emotionally speaking, this day had been a disaster. Well, every day was somehow, but today had been especially shitty.

It was about two in the morning when her beeper suddenly buzzed.

'Great... another accident at the hospital? As if today wasn't exhausting enough already...', she sighed inwardly and even her nice half let out an annoyed groan in her mind. They weren't even on call tonight.

Reluctantly, Ruby grabbed the irritating device to read the message. However, when she finally did so, she was taken aback. It was from Weiss and read:

"Done. Anything else or home time?"

Ruby just stared at her beeper in disbelief. She had told her med student that she was allowed to leave, after all. Yet, the white-haired girl seemed to have stayed at the hospital all the time to finish her horrendous (and virtually impossible) workload like she had been told by her attending physician in the first place. This girl was... interesting, to say at least.

'Okay, Ice Queen...', Ruby thought as the slightest feeling of respect crept through her body, 'Now that's something I wasn't expecting...'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the two Rubies to you. I hope reading the mental conversations wasn't too confusing. But I guess when you've figured out who says what at one time, it's pretty simple since they take turns at talking. Anyway, it seems that both versions of the crimsonette have their own problems and neither one is actually just black or white.
> 
> Let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments. Next up is another Ruby-Weiss-interaction and the plot is going to thicken a bit. Maybe the white-haired girl even manages to get accepted by her attending physician's withdrawn half... but that remains to be seen. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	10. Baptized in Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update... just in time. Barely made the deadline, though. My life hasn't returned to normal yet – I'm honestly missing the good old days when I just finished my study-stuff in the early afternoon, cracked open a beer and began writing while playing video games on the side.
> 
> Important announcement: Please be aware that the medical knowledge in this chapter comes from the internet and from various doctor shows. I have no idea what med students usually do during their studies and when they have to learn and/or know what (I studied German philology, after all). Maybe the stuff Professor Port is teaching Weiss and Co. in the lecture of this chapter is either way too simple or way too difficult. Again: I have no idea. If there's any expert here reading this, I'm open for suggestions and corrections. But please use simple words^^
> 
> Anyway, enough with my rambling. Please enjoy the next chapter of RWBY, M.D.!

Monday... a lot of people hated Mondays... And even though Weiss considered herself a pretty ambitious individual, she was no exception – especially because of her current working conditions.

The white-haired med student stepped out of the shower and dried herself with a towel. Of course, she paid extra attention to her hair – she had always been proud of her marvelous, silver strands. They looked like a waterfall of pure moonlight, after all. A small, malicious grin crept to her face when she styled her hair in her signature off-center ponytail. It was the only thing that disrupted her otherwise perfect symmetry (regardless of her scar), the only thing somewhat rebellious about her. Since her family had been deciding almost everything for her so far, this was her only form of _resistance_ against her parents... or, to be more precise, against her father...

She left the small bathroom of her dorm room and observed herself in the full-body mirror next to her wardrobe. She had always considered herself _beautiful_ : Big, icy-blue eyes, a cute button nose, dainty cheekbones. It was a face other people would kill for only to wear it themselves... Her body wasn't any less appealing than her visage: a delicate, feminine form, all of her limbs slender and graceful. Princess-like hands, fingers svelte, nails perfectly trimmed. Girly hips with a nice sway to them, a soft, round butt... Okay, her chest was a bit small, but she was still growing (at least, she told herself that much). But otherwise, she was sure that she was incredibly alluring.

Suddenly, Weiss' eyes fell on her legs and she noticed that there was a little bit more muscle to them. Of course, they still looked pretty feminine, but they were definitely more toned than she remembered... like the ones of a ballet dancer or something alike. The med student let out a sigh... retrospectively, this had been unavoidable.

She was running around the BGH for about two months now, after all – always trying to meet impossible deadlines. Of course, that would reshape her body somehow sooner or later. She wasn't used to this kind of physical exercise, given her enclosed and scheduled upbringing. Did this hospital have a track team, she wondered? Weiss was sure that she probably wouldn't be half bad by now.

Nevertheless, thinking about the last two months immediately made her remember one of the most prominent and most annoying topics of her current life: Doctor Rose! This girl (or _girls_ ) was (or were) something way too unpredictable, in her opinion. The white-haired girl knew that she was pretty good with scheduled curriculums and daily routine, yet, both _Rubies_ made that completely impossible. Weiss could never know which version of her attending physician she had to face for the day... and it drove her mad, little by little.

There was the _Nice Ruby_ : A basket full of kittens and puppies, sliding down a rainbow while living in perfect harmony. Of course, Weiss' workload would always be pretty big, but at least manageable upon facing this version of her attending physician. Of course, she didn't complain, yet... it felt somewhat weird to work with her. Everything she'd do was showered with praise, something the white-haired med student appreciated, but then again, there wasn't any significant input. Barely any word of advice, no improvement proposal... In the eyes of _Nice Ruby_ , Weiss was already perfect as long as she didn't screw up completely – probably because the girl was too afraid to scare her away.

On the other hand: There was the _Evil Ruby_ : a mean, despicable, sarcastic, self-absorbed, little shit. Nothing seemed to be good enough for her – everything Weiss was doing didn't meet her expectations. A mistake here, some missing data there... No matter how hard the white-haired girl tried, there was always something she did the wrong way, at least in _Evil Ruby_ 's opinion. It aggravated Weiss... but for some reason, she appreciated the challenge. She wanted to show this loathsome brat, after all.

Of course, she was rarely interacting with Ruby's mean half face-to-face anymore. The white-haired girl would get a sheet with tasks for the day at the ICU's nurses' station and that was it. If the nice crimsonette was changing mid-way while Weiss was shadowing her, they would initiate the so-called _Fuck-Off protocol_ – a friendly reminder that Doctor Rose's other half wanted to do as little as possible with her.

For some reason, Weiss wished that there was a middle way: A mentor that was challenging, yet decent... harsh, yet understanding... The white-haired med student wondered if the _real_ Ruby, the one that had been lost the day her mother died, would be that kind of attending physician. Would this girl, if she existed, be the best of both... or the worst? But then again, there was neither the time nor the reason to worry about that. If Weiss had learned anything about the crimsonette(s) by now, then it was the fact that _Ruby_ was gone irretrievably. Two other entities were in her place now – and they hated each other... probably as much as the white-haired girl hated the crimsonette's mean half.

* * *

Weiss' walk from her dorm to the BGH's main building was as normal as can be. Out of every variable in her life, this one would probably never change: Strolling down the cobblestone walkways while ogling the white facades of every building, the perfectly trimmed grass, the beautifully shaped hedges and trees...

Admittedly, now she saw a few people she acknowledged and gave them a small smile and a friendly nod, but still... Nothing seemed out of the ordinary while she was walking down the campus' walkways. However, as normal as her day seemed to be, the med student was suddenly reminded of her first day.

She turned _the_ corner: The corner where she had collided with Ruby on her first day. Who could've known that this annoying, little child would turn out to be her attending physician... And, boy, had Weiss given her a scolding back then. Now, it even seemed kind of surreal to her: Had this been just a coincidence or rather a faithful meeting characterizing their whole relationship? Again, Weiss wondered how her attending physician would be if it wasn't for this whole split-personality stuff.

She quickly shook the thought out of her mind. She had a lot of work to do, after all: Attending her lectures, studying for almost everything (since Ruby expected the knowledge of twenty med students from her), and, of course, preparing for her shift and all of the crimson-haired girl's cases, so she won't look like a complete idiot – in case the mean Doctor Rose was in charge today.

With this in mind, Weiss entered the BGH's main building and proceeded to her already well-known lecture hall.

* * *

The lectures had become Weiss' favorite part of the day pretty soon. Since she had to study at least thrice as hard to meet her attending physician's expectations, all of her professors had gotten aware that the Atlesian was by far the most ambitious and educated one of their students. No matter how hard the question (even if it went past the scope of the usual syllabus), every teacher could always rely on the fact that the white-haired girl knew the answer... she had no choice, after all, since she was shadowing Doctor Rose!

"...and in the end, I managed to get the patient his heart transplant. He made a full recovery.", Professor Port finished his tale, "I even get a Christmas card from his family every year." Even though his lectures taught the students everything they needed to know, the theoretical input was always accompanied by an anecdote of him saving a life in a badass (and probably a little exaggerated) way.

"Now that we have processed the basics of a heart failure, it's time for a little Q and A, don't you think?", the grey-haired man said in his usual, gallant voice, "So let's get to it! What is the first-line therapy for a person suffering from this illness? Ah, Miss Nikos!"

"The use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers.", Pyrrha answered promptly.

"Splendid!", Port cheered, "Okay, how about a more difficult follow-up question... Again, everyone is asked. What do you do if the patient shows an intolerance of ACE inhibitors or ARBs? I'm well aware that we haven't explicitly talked about that scenario yet, but I'm sure one of you knows the answer."

He was met with silence though: His question was pretty hard, after all, and went beyond the presumed knowledge of the course at the moment. No one who hadn't read their textbooks at least a few chapters in advance could answer it. Yet, Professor Port hoped that his students were this ambitious – but of course, he also knew that he probably demanded too much from them. The silence continued and the grey-haired man was about to enlighten his lecture hall... but then, he made one final try: One that had worked almost every time so far.

"Ms. Schnee...", his charming voice sliced through the silence once again, "Would you please save the honor of the class?"

"Huh?", was all Weiss managed to croak out. She had been busy the entire time taking notes from Ports lecture while finishing some assignments for other courses and studying various renal diseases for one of Doctor Rose's cases simultaneously.

"I was asking if you know about an alternate strategy of treating a patient with a heart failure who is also intolerant of ACE inhibitors or ARBs.", the mustached professor repeated himself, firmly, but not overly upset. He knew that the white-haired girl had her hands full with Doctor Rose all the time, after all.

"Oh... sorry...", Weiss quickly responded but regained her composure in an instant, "Umm... In case of a patient's intolerance of ACE-I or ARBs, or if they have a significant kidney dysfunction, the use of combined hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrates... or another long-active nitrate, should be an effective alternative."

"Exactly! Impressive as always, Miss Schnee!", Professor Port exclaimed, "And that's why it is always important to..."

Suddenly, he was interrupted by the bell.

"Oh... Well, I guess that's it for today.", the teacher noted, "It seems I had been talking a little too long, so the rest of this little Q and A will have to wait until tomorrow. Have a nice day, students – and don't be a burden to your attending physicians... Hehe, just a little joke..."

With these words, the class was dismissed into their lunch break.

* * *

For the last couple weeks, it was quite usual for Weiss to take her lunch with Jaune and Pyrrha. If they weren't available, she would often join Yang, Ren, and Nora, but otherwise, she just gave them an acknowledging wave and sat together with her fellow students. Even though she wasn't able to socialize that much with her other classmates, at least these two seemed to be her... friends, for the lack of a better word.

Again, Weiss was incredibly fond of _normality_. Of course, she liked to learn new things, but with Ruby being her attending physician, it was more like being suddenly confronted with them without any time of preparation. Therefore, the white-haired girl appreciated that things went according to her expectations from time to time – she knew that this wouldn't last very long, after all.

On Mondays, Jaune and Pyrrha usually talked about their weekends – going on shopping tours, meeting up with friends, partying with other classmates either in the dorms or in nightclubs. Weiss listened eagerly to at least get a grasp of the lives of normal med students. Unfortunately, she didn't have a say in the matter: Her free time was almost completely consumed by studying to survive the _training_ of her attending physician.

Of course, when the white-haired girl was asked about her weekend, she just said that she had been busy herself. But even though she barely said anything about studying or working for Doctor Rose, her two friends knew about it. As a result, she was often asked about her attending physician and why this girl was so demanding, yet, Weiss always managed to dodge their questions somehow. It was a miracle that she hadn't spilled anything about Doctor Rose's condition to her fellow students by now... by breaking down crying, for example...

Okay, that wasn't really necessary anymore: Since "The Day of The List" (as Weiss called it in her mind) she had barely interacted with Ruby's evil half anymore. As said, she would find a sheet of paper with today's chores waiting for her at the ICU's nurses' station and that was it. Of course, there still were some potshots from the young doctor whenever Weiss and Ruby would meet in the halls of the hospital, but as long as the evil crimsonette was in charge of the little girl's body, they tried their best to avoid each other.

"The Day of The List" had been horrible – the white-haired girl remembered it all too well. She was already working harder than any med student in their first year should... but that day, she even had to step up her usual game. She slaved away with everything she got, even ignoring the message her attending physician sent her a few hours later: She wouldn't go home with any work unfinished... if only not to give Ruby the satisfaction of her crumbling.

And Weiss even wanted to believe that it had made an impact.

* * *

Soon, lunch break was over and it was time to face the practical part of a med student's life. Histories and physical examinations, admission orders: Doctor Rose aside, everything else was routine by now, and Weiss loved it. She changed into her scrubs, entered the ICU, and headed to the nurses' station.

She immediately spotted the wild, blonde mane behind the counter. Yang was always there in the early afternoon and tapped away at her keyboard lazily – well, as long as there wasn't an accident, that is. Otherwise, she wouldn't have time to slack off, after all. Everyone who was seeing her like this wouldn't believe that she was actually a pretty ambitious and highly skilled nurse.

"Hey, Weiss.", the blonde greeted her the moment her friend was within earshot, "I got you a little something." Then, she waved with a clipboard.

"So it's _her_ today, huh?", the med student sighed, "What's her current mood?"

"Poor as always, but not _especially_ grumpy.", Yang explained and handed her sister's hastily scribbled list over, "Would be better if the toy in the cereal box wouldn't have been missing this morning, though."

"Wow... really?", Weiss asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Yup.", the nurse confirmed, "Kinda weird that a licensed doctor is still that childish, right?"

"Well, she's just eighteen years old, after all.", the white-haired girl pondered, scanned the list and her eyes went wide, "But it seems that this doesn't stop her from being a complete tyrant."

"Heavy workload today, huh?", Yang noted and gave her friend an encouraging grin.

"You have no idea.", Weiss sighed, "Better get to it immediately. See you later." With these words, the med student turned around and left again.

"Keep a stiff upper lip!", the blonde cat-called at her. The med student only gave her a wave in return.

Weiss already knew the hospital like the back of her hand: getting meds from the pharmacy, back to the nurses' station, to the lab to retrieve some files, a halt in between by a patient and taking some sheets of paper, then to the nurses' station again. She was used to the physical exercise as well – her legs weren't burning after two hours anymore. Additionally, the white-haired girl was acquainted with another few doctors by now who she could ask for advice in case she needed help with something. This way, she didn't need to speak to Ruby's mean half. If Weiss would ask her for anything, she had to face a barrage of insults, after all, most certainly one that contained the word _useless_ at least three times.

However, as fate would have it, when the white-haired girl returned to the nurses' station to deliver some files, she suddenly spotted her attending physician. Apparently, the crimsonette was waiting for her sister, but the blonde was nowhere to be seen. Now, Weiss had two options: Wait until Ruby had left again and risking not to make her deadlines that way... or still get her tasks done in time, endure an insult or two, try to respond something polite and leave again.

The first option was obviously the better one. During the last two months, Weiss had actually been able to work with the _evil_ Ruby, after all. So why put that at stake now? As long as they interacted as little as possible with each other, there weren't any mean rants, no insults, and no impositions... her workload was already big enough, after all.

But then again, even though their dynamic somewhat worked that way, it still felt like she was still running away from Ruby's mean half. She had promised Yang to be there for the young doctor, after all, and that (unfortunately) included this version of her. Avoiding her might make her life easier, but it also meant that she was afraid of a little girl.

It was probably an incredibly stupid idea, but suddenly Weiss decided to choose the second option: She would deliver her files, strike up a short conversation, ask for the crimsonette's opinion about her and then she would be on her way again. Two minutes tops, so she won't annoy her attending physician too much. With this in thought, the white-haired med student made her way to the nurses' station.

"Well, hello, Doctor Rose.", Weiss said in the most casual and indifferent tone she could muster, "Nice weather, isn't it?"

"And here I thought I had made myself clear.", Ruby sighed disdainfully, "I don't want to interact with you. You shadowing me means that you ARE my shadow. I won't notice you, you are futile to my existence... Why change our dynamic now that you have managed to _not_ annoy me for almost two months? That's all I have to say."

Okay, that hadn't gone anywhere near as expected...

"I just wanted to know how I'm doing at the moment.", the white-haired girl explained calmly, "Two minutes, five sentences, and I'm off again."

"I'm almost sure you can read.", the young doctor grumbled.

"Excuse me, but I would rather have some personal input about my advances and weak points than some hastily scribbled and almost always insulting notes.", Weiss responded, "If you want to teach me by the _Ruby Rose_ method, I thought it would be useful for me to gather some first-hand information, don't you think? It's been a few weeks that _you_ evaluated my performance, after all."

"If you want to exchange any more words than necessary to end this conversation as soon as possible, turn to my other half.", the crimsonette retorted flatly, "Since she loooves you sooo much."

'Am I right, butthead?'

'Sh-shut up! Y'know that's not true! I'm just trying to be nice.'

"Well... I was wondering...", Weiss suddenly said, "If you were sane, what would the _real_ Ruby be like? Since you have an eidetic memory, you can most certainly remember her. Maybe you could tell me what she was like..."

Upon this request, Ruby was taken aback. Of course, both of her personalities remembered her real self. She had been... normal. She had been a happy-go-lucky child, yet not afraid to speak her mind. She would tell her dad and sister she loves them at least once a day, but also fight with Yang over some toys or spit out the vegetables she didn't like. She would... talk to her mom instead of a cold tombstone...

And now, as an adult, the _real_ Ruby certainly would have been that way as well. Nice and understanding, yet ambitious and prideful... like her mom... She would always try to get along with her friends and co-workers the best she could but won't be afraid of a confrontation when it was necessary to do her job and save a life. The best of both of them – without the terrible headaches whenever they were switching personalities...

But the _real_ Ruby was gone... irretrievably gone. And now this snobby little brat just reminded her of this circumstance?! It made her angry, hate-filled even. She ground her teeth and gave her med student a horrifying glare. Weiss was immediately stricken with fear – Why the hell did she ask this?!

But before Ruby could retort something, her beeper suddenly started to ring. The crimsonette checked it immediately and her eyes went wide. Then, without a warning, she started to sprint to the ICU's main entrance, her med student quickly forgotten. Therefore, Weiss remained untold.

"Oh, you got to be _fucking_ kidding me!", the crimsonette exclaimed annoyedly while she put the annoying device away and made her way through the ward.

"W-what's going on?!", Weiss cat-called at her. For some reason, this didn't seem to be the ordinary _mean_ Ruby.

"Move it, dipshit!", was all she received as an answer, "Did it stutter?! Heel!"

The white-haired girl quickly ran after her attending physician.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss were approaching the exit of the ICU when the doors suddenly flew open and a gurney was pushed into the ward. The med student recognized Nora along with two other guys, apparently paramedics, one with messy blonde, the other with blue hair. The crimsonette immediately helped them rushing the patient to a free bed.

"What happened?", Ruby asked curtly.

"Car crash. Hemothorax. Severe head trauma.", Nora quickly replied.

"Fuck... and I'm the only doctor here right now.", the crimson-haired girl grumbled, "Alright, on three: Onetwothree!" With these words, they moved the unconscious man from the gurney to the bed.

Weiss just stood there and stared at them. Why did she have to come along? It wasn't like she could do anything useful at the moment. Maybe some simple nurse's work, or getting meds, or...

"Okay, I'll take care of his noodle, but we need to relieve the pressure in his chest, too.", Ruby exclaimed and got to work, "Time to shine, Ice Queen!"

"W-WHAT?!", the white-haired girl yelled in horror.

"Don't _what_ me!", the crimsonette gnarled fiercely while starting to treat the patient's head injuries, "Come on! Chop-chop."

"I... I don't... I'm not allowed t-to...", the med student stammered, her body trembling with fear.

"Nora: Scalpel and chest-tube tray.", Ruby commanded. The nurse hesitated for a while (Weiss was neither qualified nor legally allowed to do this, after all), but then she got everything the young doctor was asking for and slipped the scalpel into the white-haired girl's hand.

"I-I've only done this to cadavers so far.", the Weiss explained, her voice squeaking. The squeal even drowned out the rapidly quickening beeps of the heart monitor, if only for two seconds.

"Then just wait a few minutes and you're in your element again!", the crimsonette responded sarcastically, "I have my hands full right now, so even if I'm doing it for you, he will die on the other end. Do it already!"

Weiss was incredibly nervous... okay, that was the wrong word. She was completely and utterly terrified! What was Doctor Rose even thinking?! A med student in her first year of clinical studies cutting open a critical patient?! This was ridiculous! It was insane! The white-haired girl was about to drop the scalpel, then simply faint right here and now... but then...

"Weiss! Look at me! You _can_ do this!", Ruby gnarled, yet, there was an incredibly supportive tone to it, unlike anything the med student had heard from her attending physician so far, "Now don't pussy out, for fuck's sake! I'm COUNTING on you here!" It was now that the white-haired girl knew she had no other choice.

'C'mon, Weiss.', she told herself inwardly, 'You can do it! You HAVE to do it!'

She didn't even know how she managed to remain conscious, or how she was able to stop her hands from shaking... But, while taking in a sharp breath, the med student finally made the incision.

"That'll do.", Ruby quickly said while doing her own tasks simultaneously, "Next comes the tube."

Nora immediately handed Weiss the long and sturdy duct. The white-haired girl positioned it at the incision she had made. However, when she applied pressure, nothing happened...

"T-the pleura... I...", Weiss stammered while struggling and fear took a hold of her again.

"I didn't raise a weakling over the past few weeks, damn it!", Ruby spat, "Don't be such a wimp and ram it in... or he dies and it's your fault! But you're better than that! I KNOW you are!"

Upon hearing this, the white-haired med student regained her composure and, with one final thrust, she managed to push the tube in. Nora quickly connected it and the blood flowed through. The beeping of the heart monitor slowly decelerated until it was somewhat calm again.

"Rhythm returns to normal.", the orange-haired girl announced.

"I... did it?", Weiss asked, a look of utter confusion on her face. She barely remembered the last few minutes – her body had been acting on its own.

"Only dumb people ask dumb questions.", Ruby responded flatly.

It was now that the med student fully understood what she had managed to do. She had saved the patient's life... by doing something she had never done before, something that she wasn't even allowed to do yet. Nevertheless, she pulled through – she didn't back down and got it done! It was an amazing feeling.

"I-I did it! I actually did it!", Weiss yelled, incredibly happy. A thousand thoughts and emotions ran through her mind and body. It had been sink or swim, she had to make a choice, she took the risk and she actually saved a life! Another human being, still in this world and able to return to his family and friends. Weiss felt amazingly proud, utterly satisfied, she felt like she could fly. She suddenly felt... like an actual doctor. Like someone who could actually make the change she wanted to make in this world.

'I did it!', went through her mind over and over again.

"Yeah, whatevs.", Ruby responded while she continued to stabilize the patient, "I'm incredibly sorry that the parade won't be here in time. I was pretty sure that you'd kill him. Now go to the nurses' station and get the paperwork done... oh, and get me some painkillers for the patient... and for my headache caused by interacting with you."

At this statement, Weiss deflated visibly. And even though there was still a fraction of pride in her chest, it was easily overshadowed by her attending physician's contempt. She had thought she had accomplished something big, after all... but it seemed that Ruby was still unsatisfied with her... and would most certainly ever be, no matter what she did...

The white-haired girl was about to leave to get her newest task done... but then...

"Hey, Ice Queen...", Ruby suddenly sighed.

Weiss immediately turned around again and faced the crimsonette once more.

"G-good job. Maybe you're... not _completely_ useless, after all. Still far from acceptable, though.", Ruby said... and Weiss almost thought she could see a small, yet friendly smile on her face, this time without any hint of sarcasm or disdain.

Upon seeing this, Weiss couldn't help but smile again herself. She could barely believe it: Even this version of her attending physician was complimenting her... in her own, rough way. That had never happened before. Was this even real? Or was she dreaming?

"But I'll have to change my mind again if you're going to stay in the corridor, grinning like an idiot and not doing your damn job.", Ruby continued harshly, "Did I stutter? Back to work, you pest, so I don't have to see your stupid face anymore."

However, the familiar barrage of insults sounded kind of feeble this time... unfrank even. It was almost like this version of her attending physician was just trying to keep her face, even though she was secretly proud of her med student. It only caused Weiss' smile to widen before she regained her composure.

"O-of course, Doctor Rose.", the white-haired girl exclaimed enthusiastically, "Consider it done!" Then, she turned around and left the patient and Ruby to do how she had been told.

* * *

The crimsonette herself went back to treat the man. She had to distract herself: How the hell did things turn out like that? And why did she trust Weiss with something like that (Admittedly, she didn't have much of a choice, but still...)? And why hadn't her med student screwed up, even though she was just a nuisance (At least that was what Ruby had thought...)? And why had she even thanked this nuisance? And why... urgh... now she was getting a headache for real! She had to stop thinking about all of this stuff. Then, everything would return to normal again... for sure.

Unfortunately, it only got worse...

'Was that last part really necessary?', a familiar voice (since it sounded like her own) echoed through Ruby's head, 'Weiss was incredible! What she had done was even way cooler than something we had done in our first semester. So why did you insult her again?'

'I-I don't know, okay?! It just slipped out. W-whatever, I don't give a fuck about her anyway.' However, and even though it was just a mental conversation, the last part didn't sound very sincere anymore. Ruby's nice half noticed it, too.

'But the smile she was showing... it was just for us. For _you_! She liked you at that moment. Does this really not matter to you in the slightest?'

'She did a good job, I thanked her... well, kinda... and that's it! Seriously! Stop reading that much into it, geez...'

'A good job? She neither had the experience to do something like this, nor she would've been legally allowed to do that. Yet, you told her to do it. You even encouraged her to do it. And she did it – even though she was risking her whole medical career. You as well as I know that there's more to this girl than being a simple med student. Weiss is amazing. She's... like us. She's someone we can confide in, someone that may understand us. Do you really _not_ see this?!'

'If you won't stop pestering me with "Weiss here, Weiss there" I'm going to call Yang for a girls' night out, get unbefuckinglievably shitfaced tonight and let you deal with the hangover tomorrow...'

And even though they couldn't really control who was in charge, the threat worked wonders.

'Eww, alcohol... Okay, I'm silent. Just... don't do something stupid and... well, at least think about what I've told you...'

'What was that?!'

'N-nothing... so please don't give Yang any ideas...'

'Thank goodness... Spending time with our sister when she's hammered is annoying enough... no matter how drunk I am myself at that time.'

With these words, Ruby devoted herself to the patient again. Of course, Weiss' work had been far from perfect, but at least she saved the man's life.

Suddenly, the crimsonette remembered her own first sink-or-swim situation: She had been a med student as well and wasn't allowed to do something like that, too. Yet, her attending physician... Doctor Ozpin... had told her to perform a tracheotomy... The girl in need of it had barely been older than the crimsonette herself... It had been the first time she had saved a life. After that, both Rubies suddenly knew that they didn't want to do anything else but becoming a doctor. It somehow felt like avenging their mother's death, for some weird reason.

'You're thinking about Mom again, huh?'

'Well, I'd say "Lucky guess" if we weren't sharing the same conscience, dimwit...'

'But that's what I meant in the first place: With Weiss and her incredible talent, we can make an even bigger impact. We just have to teach her how to be an amazing doctor like Ozpin did it with us and we're one step closer to our goal... that no one else has to suffer like we had to anymore... even though that's not quite possible but... you get the idea, right?'

'Haven't I told you not to mention this white-haired nuisa... girl anymore?'

'I'm only saying that Weiss is our ally now... in our quest to make the world a better place. At least that fact has to matter to you. She isn't some kind of run-of-the-mill med student. She is ambitious, she is talented, she is... gifted. Like us. We have finally found someone like us. Isn't that exciting?!'

'Okay, that does it. Yang and I are going big tonight.'

And, without a warning, Ruby fished her pager out of her pocket and sent her sister the following message: "You. Me. Bar. Tonight!"

'Uh-oh...', sounded the voice in her head. Nice Ruby knew she had overstepped her mark... and she would have to face dire consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Evil Ruby saying something nice to Weiss?! That's a first. But after everything the white-haired had to go through, even the crimsonette's mean half had to admit that her med student has something on the ball. I wonder how this will change the dynamic between these two from now on...
> 
> Again, I know whatever I write here isn't very accurate and probably nowhere near realistic in the slightest. This is fanfiction, after all. If there's an expert reading this who absolutely can't tolerate the bullsh*t I wrote, I would appreciate some useful input to make the medical parts better. But please use a somewhat polite language.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'd say that this one was one of the most significant key points of the story so far. Let's see how Ruby (especially her withdrawn half) interacts with Weiss from now on. Stay tuned for the next chapter, pals!


	11. Super-Bestie or White-Haired Nuisance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew... finally got the next chapter done. Sorry for updating so late, but this one somehow turned out waaay longer than I had thought. It wasn't even supposed to be THAT important for the story but just the prelude to the actually important one... Anyway, now that it's finally done: Enjoy!

Coffee... the lifeline of about eighty percent of the people who were working at the BGH. The black, bitter substance that kept them sane and functional... The reason why people survived working a twenty-four-hour shift without suddenly dropping dead in the hallways. Blake had never understood the hype.

Her _elixir vitae_ was tea... and not just because of the better flavor (in her opinion). While she knew that coffee contained a higher amount of caffeine and was even able to reduce the incidence of dementia or even type 2 diabetes, tea had almost the same revitalizing properties and provided vital antioxidants and even cancer-fighting ingredients. Even though researches would probably never be able to determine which one of the beverages was better than the other, Blake knew that tea (in all of its delicious, multifarious variants) would always be her favorite.

The black-haired psychiatrist was sipping on a freshly brewed cup of the aforementioned liquid while scanning some files she already knew by heart. It was Monday, five to ten, and she was awaiting the most interesting one of her clients. Not just because her condition was truly unique, but mostly because she was finally certain that they were getting somewhere after a lot of years without any significant progress.

About a month ago, Ruby's mean half had forced Weiss to risk her whole medical career by doing something she wasn't even nearly allowed to do. Yet, the crimson-haired girl had encouraged her to perform a task no med student neither had the right nor the qualifications for. Ruby had believed in Weiss, she had trusted her that she wouldn't mess it up... she had finally opened up to someone else, enough to risk her own career as well. You didn't need to be a psychiatrist to understand that even the young doctor's withdrawn version saw something in her med student: Something important, something significant... Even though she would never admit it out loud (for now), the white-haired girl was already special to Ruby.

Blake had had to muster every single bit of willpower she possessed to hide her excitement during their therapy session two weeks ago. The psychiatrist had been pretty certain that Weiss' arrival would change the crimsonette sooner or later – but she had never thought that it would happen so fast. However, she also knew that sense of tact was in great demand now. One false question, a single too provocative assumption, even a simple grin or a raise of eyebrows at the wrong time could ruin everything. And that mustn't happen.

Fortunately, Blake was no amateur. She was one of the most competent psychiatrists in all of Remnant, a person of incredible insight into human nature and the daughter of the woman who was more or less the revolutionist of modern psychology. She knew exactly how to handle her friend and most interesting patient... and now, after years of waiting, after Ruby finally seemed to make some progress, she could finally put this knowledge into action.

Ten o'clock came and went, yet, Blake remained patient. It wasn't the first time the crimson-haired girl was late for her session. On more than one occasion her withdrawn half simply decided that it wasn't worth her time and continued working, but then again, she would sooner or later encounter Yang who would scold her and send her straight to the psychiatrist's office... without any objections.

It was almost quarter past ten and the raven-haired woman was about to send a message to the blonde nurse when she finally heard a knock. Barely a second later, the door swung open and Ruby entered and was, strangely enough, dressed in scrubs.

"Sorry about the delay.", the crimsonette immediately apologized, "But I got puked on. Porridge with raspberries... looked kinda funny."

"I bet.", Blake responded with a chuckle, "By the way, it's been a while since I've last seen you wearing scrubs."

"Yeah... I like the white coat way better.", Ruby explained, "It somehow makes me feel... important. Professional. Significant. Ruby Rose... Healer!" The last part was spoken with a flamboyant hand gesture and a childish giggle.

"Looks like you're in high spirits today.", the psychiatrist noted.

"Oh, you bet!", the crimsonette rambled on, "I found the last cereal toy I needed to complete the set this morning, have beaten Ren and Nora in a game of _Why does th_ _e food sharing fridge smells so awful this time?_ , AND finally figured out what's wrong with the patient with the weird rash in bed five. My day is gonna be fantastic... despite the fact that someone projectile vomited his breakfast onto my favorite hoodie."

"Well, then. Let's get our session over with and you can continue being awesome.", Blake suggested, "I guess the question how you're feeling today is already answered, though."

"I can repeat myself if I haven't made it clear enough.", Ruby offered with a grin.

"I don't think this is necessary.", the raven-haired woman explained, "Lots of great stuff happened today: Cereal toy, food sharing fridge, saved a patient. In that order?"

"Now that you mention it... if I were to rank this stuff on its degree of happiness caused, I would like to swap "Food sharing fridge" with "Cereal toy".", the young doctor said jokingly, "Normally, I never beat Nora in that game, so it's a biggie."

"Okay, enough with the jokes.", Blake sighed, yet, she couldn't help but smile a little herself, "Even though I'm glad to see you all cheerful and giddy, we're here to tinker with your brain, after all. I've noticed and also heard from Yang that you were less _switchy_ in the last few weeks. How come? Have you and your other half finally managed to agree on something?"

"I know you are asking this question for a reason and there's a certain topic you wanna talk about.", Ruby noted with a smug grin.

"You're an expert regarding the human mind.", the raven-haired woman complimented her friend with a chuckle, "Ever thought about becoming a psychiatrist?"

"Nah... I'm not that good with people in general.", the crimsonette responded, "Also, I guess my other half would kill me if I'd do that. You know what she thinks about your profession."

"Now that you say that...", Blake said overly thoughtful, "I vaguely remember she had mentioned something like this... all the time. Sooo: How's it going with Weiss? Since I'm pretty sure that's the topic you were referring to."

"Oh, she's pretty amazing! After... the incident we don't talk about...", Ruby explained with a wink, well knowing that she had done something illegal a month ago, "...she just continues to become even cooler and more talented. I even think she's already smarter than the students in second year... well, at least smarter than the dumb ones."

At that comment, Blake raised an eyebrow. The nice version of the crimsonette normally never said something like that about other people, even about people she didn't know personally. And even though it was probably just a slip of the tongue, the psychiatrist still considered this sudden change progress. After all, it showed that the nice version of the crimson-haired girl was slowly starting to behave like a normal, emotionally more balanced individual... just like her mean half had started to become a little more peaceable.

However, Ruby quickly realized her faux pas.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry.", the young doctor quickly apologized, "It... it's just that I'm so proud of Weiss and... umm... y'know. Please don't tell anybody that I've said that. Not even Yang, okay?!"

"Don't worry.", the raven-haired psychiatrist reassured her patient, "Even though I talk with your sister about your therapy sessions, I'd never breach medical secrecy. I know exactly what I can tell her about and what I should keep to myself. I would never spill a single one of your secret thoughts and/or actions to anybody."

"You're the best, Blake.", Ruby said with a beaming smile, "You know that the last thing I want is to insult anyone. I just wanted to praise Weiss and went overboard. Belittling somebody else just to make a point is despicable. That's something _she_ does all the time. But Weiss is really amazing and I didn't know an appropriate comparison, so I wasn't thinking, and went overboard, and..."

"Ruby... you're rambling again.", the psychiatrist interrupted her friend with a comforting smile, "I know you didn't mean any harm. But it's a good thing that you think so highly of your med student. Your other half could really take a page from your book... even though I believe she thinks the same way anyway."

'As if...', sounded an annoyed voice in Ruby's head.

"Okay, back to our actual topic.", Blake continued, "So you think everything goes well between you and Weiss at the moment?"

"Oh, definitely.", the crimsonette announced giddily, "We've become a great team. She does amazing work and she starts to get more open-hearted and communicative. I'd even go as far to say that she's already best friend material. I mean... it's nothing against you or Yang, but you're my psychiatrist and she's my sister..."

"And Weiss is your med student.", the black-haired woman remembered her.

"O-only for two years.", Ruby quickly responded, "After that, we'll definitely be besties... well, as long as my other half doesn't ruin everything on the way." The last part was spoken with a fair amount of disdain.

"Do you have considered the fact that Weiss may want to work in another hospital when her training is over?", Blake asked matter-of-factly, "She might even go back to Atlas."

"I doubt that!", the young doctor said overly firmly, "She hates Atlas. Especially because of her dad. I'm pretty sure she will stay at the BGH as long as we treat her nicely. And isn't that what most people do? Staying at the hospital where they had been studying?" The last part was less of a statement than a plea for reassurance.

"That's... definitely a possibility.", the psychiatrist admitted, "But just in case it won't happen... how would you feel if you knew Weiss would practice somewhere else once her training is over?"

"I know I have some serious abandonment issues.", Ruby said with a sigh, "But... I... guess... it would be okay if Weiss decides to practice elsewhere." Blake immediately noticed that it took her friend quite a lot of willpower to say something like that.

"B-but, umm, Weiss and I can still be friends, right?", the crimsonette continued, now a little more hopeful, "We can call or even visit each other. Just because we won't work together anymore doesn't mean she is gone for good, right?"

"Would you really be okay with that?", Blake asked carefully, "All the important people in your life are either seen by you every other day or just live an hour-long airship ride away."

"Of course I'll be okay with it.", Ruby quickly confirmed, "I'm way more mature than everyone thinks I am. As long as I know that Weiss is still my friend, I wouldn't mind her living in another city or whatever. With the Cross Continental Transmit System, the world is becoming smaller and smaller anyway. It will be like she still lives just a few blocks away."

Suddenly, the voice in her head piped up again:

'You're such a terrible, pathetic little liar. What you've just told Blake isn't even remotely true, and you know that. She probably knows, too. Even though she's just a psychiatrist, she isn't _that_ dumb.'

'What?! Whatcha talking about? It won't matter that much if I don't see Weiss every day in case she decides to work in another hospital. We don't see Dad for days sometimes as well.'

'Okay... here's a prediction on how your first few weeks being separated from this white-haired nuisance are going to be: At first, everything will be okay. You call each other every other day, send funny little messages and whatever. Maybe you're going to visit her in Atlas sometime, even though I highly doubt that we'll have time for this. But sooner or later, well sooner _than_ later, the time will come where you try to call her and she doesn't respond immediately... maybe even needs a couple of days to call you back. This will continue for a few weeks and the estrangement grows... until you're just somebody she used to know back then during her time at Beacon. And this is going to _destroy_ you and your too easily attached, fucked up mind. It will make you wish you were dead because you can't accept the fact that another person you held so dearly left you again. You will blame yourself for not trying harder, for being a terrible friend, et cetera, et cetera. And it will take years until you recover, if ever, because you're way too sensitive about this kind of stuff.'

'Pfft... I'm not _that_ fragile... I-I think... I-I'd be able to handle not talking to Weiss every few days. And it doesn't matter if we just contact one another every other week or so. A friend will always stay a friend if you make an effort to maintain the friendship.'

'Why do you lie to me? This is just like lying to yourself. Well, it actually _is_ , somehow. So stop this farce already. Your attachment towards Weiss is already worse than I wanted it to be in the first place. Well, not like we had much of a choice after Yang had told her everything about us and spurred her on to bear with us. What I'm trying to say is the following: Stop treating Weiss like your super-bestie in the hope that she will reciprocate these feelings someday. She WON'T! She's a colleague, at best, like all the other doctors and nurses in this hospital. And even though she's our med student and we have to interact with her on a more regular basis, you need to stop with all this friend-crap already. The more you try to hold onto the idea that you'll live together happily ever after, the more it will hurt when she finally and inevitably leaves us. I'm just trying to protect you and your frail, little feelings here so give me at least a little appreciation... and start being realistic, for fuck's sake.'

"Must be a pretty interesting conversation going on in your head, huh?", Blake suddenly addressed the crimson-haired girl and shook her out of her trance.

"Huh?", Ruby asked confused and snapped back to reality.

"You were spacing out for about five minutes.", the psychiatrist explained, "May I ask what the two of you were talking about?"

"Urgh... the usual.", the crimsonette dismissed the question with a huff, "She was all: "Wah, wah, wah. Weiss is so dumb and annoying. I'm just a big, stupid jerk that hates everybody but myself. We're better off alone. All the other people just exist to make us cry.", while I was all "Don't be so whiny. We won't know unless we try. Stop acting like a little child. We're adults now." Or something along these lines. No need to discuss this any further." Hopefully, this would be enough to answer the black-haired woman's question and change the topic.

"Sorry. I was just curious.", Blake explained nonchalantly, "It's just that you're normally just ignoring her when you have other things to focus on. So I assumed that the two of you were discussing something important."

"Believe me, it was just her ever-present nagging.", the young doctor quickly repeated herself, "A-anyway, is there something else you wanna talk about?"

Again, the black-haired woman just raised an eyebrow. It was pretty obvious that Ruby wasn't telling the truth about the conversation with her other half. But the psychiatrist knew better than to keep on about it. If the crimsonette didn't want to tell her at the moment, it was probably the best not to force it. Making a patient uncomfortable by doing something like that led almost always to negative results.

* * *

The therapy session went on as usual. They continued to talk about casual things, Ruby's daily routine, her latest patients, the fact that Yang needed way too long in their shared bathroom... Soon, an hour had passed and their meeting was over.

All the while, Blake paid attention not to address Weiss again as long as this was possible. And even when she couldn't avoid it, she tried to change the topic again. Something in her younger friend's mind regarding that girl had been set into motion, something she most certainly had to figure out on her own. There was no use in flogging the topic to death before Ruby hadn't come to terms with her own feelings and expectation. And when that time had arrived, Blake was sure that the crimsonette would address it on her own again.

"Thank you for your time.", the psychiatrist dismissed her friend a few minutes past eleven, "Have a nice day and don't let Yang annoy you too much."

"We both know that this is going to happen anyway.", Ruby responded with a chuckle and stood up, ready to leave the office and return to work, "But I'll try nonetheless. I guess I'll see you in the afternoon at the nurses' station, right?"

"Probably...", Blake responded and added with a grin, "Luckily, I don't have much work on Monday... besides you, that is."

"Flatterer.", the young doctor retorted with a giggle herself, "My workload is enough for two today. But now I have at least a little backup. Later, then." The black-haired woman gave her a final wave, then, Ruby was out the door.

"And now... we wait.", Blake quietly said to herself after the door had fallen shut. She knew it was only a matter of time until something big would happen to Ruby's state of mental health. Hopefully something positive. Unfortunately, chances were probably fifty-fifty...

* * *

Outside of Blake's office, both Rubies immediately continued their heated discussion from earlier. And while the crimsonette's evil side's anger was still fresh and unspent, her nice side started to lose her patience as well.

'A little backup, huh? More like errand girl, at most.'

'She does great work and saves us a lot of time. If you really were as smart as you always tell everybody, you would recognize this already.'

'And if you were only half as smart as me, you would stop treating Weiss like your pet and start being a little more realistic. You're her boss. Act like it, geez.'

'I do. But, as you said, I'm her _boss_ , not her tormenter. For some reason, you always mix up these two words.'

'Boss? Are you trying to make me laugh? With the way you pamper her, I'm pretty surprised that you haven't tried to change her diaper by now. I'm only trying to show this white-haired annoyance all the shitty aspects of being a doctor to prepare her for the harsh reality. That's part of being an attending physician, too. And if she realizes that she isn't cut out for the job on the way, all the better.'

'Drop the act already. I know you like Weiss, too, and want to work with her. You know she's incredibly talented and even somebody like you appreciates and respects that.'

'I don't like her! I barely tolerate her! But I try to bear with her since I don't have much of choice anymore... thanks to you and Yang. However, at the same time, I try to protect yourself from her. I highly doubt that she'll stay at Beacon and you won't get over it when this is going to happen and you've gotten too attached to her. Okay, since we're both kinda the same person, I mostly try to protect myself here, but in the end, I'm doing yourself a favor as well by keeping her at distance.'

'We already had this discussion back at Blake's office and I'm starting to believe that arguing with you about Weiss isn't of any use. I have my own way of doing things and you... unfortunately... have yours. We will never come to an agreement until I have proven to you that I AM RIGHT about this!'

'Look who has finally learned to speak her mind... just in her mind, but still. I hope this new-found confidence isn't going to be replaced with grief and self-loathing when you realize your delusions in a couple of months.'

'This conversation is over. From now on, only talk to me when it's something job-related. I don't know if it occurred to you but I'm responsible for a couple of lives here. I don't need your negativity right now.'

'Lie to yourself, if you must, but don't try to have a good cry on my shoulder when your little _bestie_ decides to leave you in the lurch.'

'...this stupid, annoying, defeatist jerk... why do I have to share my mind with her?! I hate her so much...'

'I can hear everything you think... Same conscience, y'know...'

* * *

Of course, Weiss was completely oblivious to the turmoils she was causing in the crimsonette's mind. While her attending physicians were arguing over the pros and cons of being stuck with her, the med student still sat in Professor Port's lecture and scribbled down a ton of notes (way more than necessary) about the lymphatic system and some nasty diseases that could affect it. And even though the white-haired girl considered herself pretty smart she knew she needed the extra effort so she would stay at the top of her class. That was expected of her by now, after all.

Additionally, Weiss needed more than simple notes, more like a complete summary of the lecture, because she couldn't quite focus on Port's explanations at the moment. As the grey-haired professor rambled on about lymphedemas and lymphangitis, she was reading something about metabolic diseases on the side for one of Doctor Rose's more complicated cases. Of course, her attending physician would most certainly be able to handle the patient on her own, but Weiss wanted to go the extra mile so she would be able to shine. Even after her acid test about a month ago, Ruby's mean half still liked to remind her that she was still pretty dumb – and the words the crimsonette used to do so were always... less kind, to say at least.

Time flew by and the white-haired med student was so absorbed in her work that she almost missed the bell. Fortunately, Jaune and Pyrrha managed to shake her out of her trance. Nevertheless, Weiss still needed a few seconds to realize that the lecture was over and they could finally enjoy their lunch break. Her fellow students just commented on their friend's behavior with a gleeful chuckle. They already knew that Doctor Rose was a pretty demanding attending physician by now, after all.

As always, Weiss enjoyed her lunch at the cafeteria. The food was tasty, balanced, and (the most important factor for a student) still pretty cheap. Also, the white-haired girl could listen eagerly to her friends' stories about their weekend – that way, she would at least _hear_ about the life of a normal med student.

Of course, Jaune and Pyrrha still had a few questions about Weiss' own life and her time with Doctor Rose, but the Atlesian girl could finally state that everything was going fine. Admittedly, she still spent most of her free time studying, yet, she had been able to catch up on some popular TV series, went to a spa the other day, and even visited the Vale Museum of Natural History two weeks ago. Okay... that wasn't much of an accomplishment compared to her friends' activities, but at least she was making a little progress regarding living her own life.

Even though Jaune and Pyrrha still admired Doctor Rose and her incredible abilities, they started to understand that learning under her was probably a two-edged sword. Of course, the young prodigy would make an incredibly skilled physician out of you, but considering their friend's stories, it seemed that anybody who was forced to learn under her had to give up the majority of their leisure time to meet her standards. Nevertheless, Weiss watched out not to spill anything about Ruby's mental health issues. Since the day Yang had told her about that, the white-haired girl always tried to portray _Doctor Rose_ as the best of both in front of other people: An understanding and helpful, yet pretty demanding and challenging attending physician.

Maybe it was just Weiss' baseless wishful thinking, but if the Ruby she told her friends about would be her real supervisor, that would be perfect. Unfortunately, she knew that this would most certainly never happen.

* * *

Soon, lunch break was over and all the med students left the cafeteria to attend to their duties as future doctors. As always, Weiss started to get a little nervous while changing into her scrubs. Which version of her attending physician would await her today? Admittedly, her relationship with both halves of the crimson-haired girl had gotten a lot better since the incident with the car crash patient a month ago, but then again, evil Ruby was still _evil_ Ruby.

However, it seemed that the answer to the white-haired girl's question would have to wait a little longer. The moment Weiss wanted to exit the changing room, she got the following, hastily typed message: "Bsuy.Yang hs task" Of course, the med student could decipher the letter salad easily but, unfortunately, the tonality gave her no clue to which Doctor Rose had written it.

Well, there was no use to wrack her brain over something she couldn't influence. Since the white-haired girl had no other choice but to get to work anyway, she made her way to the ICU's nurses' station. Once there, she quickly found the wild, blonde mane she was looking for. As always at this time of the day, the nurse was tapping away at her keyboard – by far her least favorite activity of her job.

"Hey, Yang.", Weiss greeted the blonde, "Ruby has told me you have some work ready for me."

"Yup. Right here.", the nurse exclaimed and handed over a note, "Couldn't decipher her handwriting though. She really was in a hurry."

"Don't worry. In just three months, I became an expert in reading Rubyish.", the med student said with a small chuckle, "How's her mood today?"

"Last time I've seen her, she was all nice and cuddly.", Yang explained and leaned onto the counter, eager to procrastinate again, "But that could've changed already. Her day seems even crazier than usual. Right after her therapy session was over, it was almost like half of Vale's population just didn't _want_ to be healthy anymore."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped, then.", Weiss sighed, "I'll be careful when approaching her. Would be pretty stupid to disturb the uneasy peace I have made with her mean half by now."

"You're as smart as ever.", the blonde joked and watched her friend go over the note, "Lots of stuff to do?"

"It's manageable, I guess.", the white-haired girl simply responded, even though that wasn't exactly true. If Ruby had to outsource that much this early already, the young doctor's workload had to be pretty tough today.

"I can lend a hand if you want to.", Yang offered, "Even if it's just paperwork... I need a break from this database stuff or I'm going to die of boredom... or frustration. Whatever comes first."

"I'll take you up on this offer.", Weiss said and examined Doctor Rose's note again, "Most of this stuff is mostly just time-consuming rather than hard to do, though. I'll page you if there's anything I could need a hand with."

"I'm standing by, Weissicle.", the nurse responded with a grin, "But if you wait too long, I might have already killed myself with my keyboard."

"You say that at least once every week.", the med student remarked with a shrug, "Yet, you're still here. I even doubt that it is possible to commit suicide with a keyboard... well, at least not with a wireless one like yours."

"I'm a pretty creative gal, so I'll figure something out.", Yang said nonchalantly, "Anyway, happy slaving today. And, as promised, if you need a helping... Yang-d (the terrible pun caused Weiss to scream internally), you know where to find me."

"At the roof, smoking and trying to hide from head nurse Goodwitch?", the white-haired girl asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly!", the nurse exclaimed and gave her friend a thumbs up.

"Good luck with that.", Weiss said conclusively and turned around to get her tasks done, "I may or may not rat you out."

"Traitor!", Yang cat-called at her with a hearty laugh.

* * *

Two hours passed and the white-haired med student was already finished with the bigger part of her assignments. She was just on her way back to the nurses' station when she finally spotted her attending physician. The crimsonette was leaning onto the counter and went through some files. She looked pretty exhausted already, and it was just 3 o'clock. This only motivated Weiss even more to be of help to her.

However, since she had no idea which version of her attending physician she had to face at the moment, Weiss tried the most neutral approach she could think of. Neutral but professional and ambitious, nonetheless. If this was really the evil half of the crimsonette, she was most certainly in a pretty bad mood due to today's horrendous workload.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Rose.", the white-haired med student greeted her nonchalantly, "Here's the detailed patient history of Ms. Schwartz. I also got the files of the patient in bed six from Yang. I've already taken a look at them and I would say it is either fibromyalgia or hypothyroidism. In case I'm correct, Yang and I have already printed out the prescriptions for the meds needed for the first-line therapies, just waiting for your signature. In case I'm wrong I would appreciate your instruction to better myself in the future and will get the correct prescription sheets immediately."

Ruby quickly grabbed the files her med student had brought her and scanned them quickly. The symptoms and data left no doubt about the diagnosis. Admittedly, it wasn't that hard to guess the patient's illness for a licensed doctor, but for a med student with just three months of clinical experience, it was quite the accomplishment to slim it down to two diseases that were actually pretty similar. A lot of symptoms were nonspecific and variable, after all.

"It's fibromyalgia. Blood test shows thyroid hormone levels aren't _that_ high, but still healthy. Nevertheless: Great job, Weiss.", Ruby explained and signed the correct prescription sheets, then, she added jokingly, "But the next time I expect you to guess the right one from the start, or the next round of coffee is on you."

"Umm... the coffee here is free.", Weiss responded, but she was glad knowing that she was dealing with the nice crimsonette for the time being.

"It was just a joke, silly.", the young doctor said with a small giggle, "Don't be so serious all the time."

"Sorry...", the white-haired girl apologized, "Aftereffects from working with your other half last week."

"Well, at least she has allowed you to shadow her again after... what had happened last month.", Ruby mentioned, "Even though I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing."

"Don't worry about me.", Weiss reassured her attending physician, "I'm pretty sure I'm able to handle her now."

'We'll see about that...', sounded a devious voice in the crimsonette's head.

"A-anyway, how about you get the meds for the patient and meet me at the laboratory afterwards?", the young doctor suggested, "Things are pretty crazy today and I have to work for two people. So it would be really cool if you take care of the stuff that doesn't require a medical license while I try not to let anyone die in this hospital."

"I'm on it, Doctor Rose. That's my job, after all.", Weiss responded dutifully and grabbed the signed prescription sheets, turned on her heel and quickly left for the pharmacy, "See you at the lab." Before Ruby could say something herself, the med student had already turned the next corner.

'See: Even without being yelled at every five seconds, Weiss still does her work pretty ambitiously. The only thing your stupid rants accomplish is that she hates us, but they have no effect on anything else.'

'May I remind you that she did the only significant thing she has done so far because I was so harsh and demanding?'

'But it doesn't matter that she becomes an amazing doctor when your method of teaching mentally breaks her. The medical council usually doesn't let the crazies practice medicine. We're the exception... and only because Ozpin kind of pities us.'

'Well, then... let's make a challenge out of it. Since day one the girl thought she was better than everybody else, _we_ included. So she shouldn't have a problem with surviving these two years under my thumb without going nuts, am I right?'

'Urgh... you're terrible.'

'As if I give a damn about what you think of me, dipshit.'

* * *

The day went on without any unpleasant incidents. Weiss' workload was a little bigger than usual compared to other times she had worked with Ruby's nice version, but the med student knew this was only because her attending physician had a horrendous amount of stuff to do herself today. Nevertheless, she appreciated the challenge and, of course, the compliments from the crimsonette for hanging on. Weiss had already dealt with worse, anyway.

The white-haired girl checked the time on her Scroll while delivering some files to Ruby. Her shift was almost over – there were just about thirty minutes left. She quickly found her attending physician at the ICU's nurses' station, signing forms and sipping on a cup of coffee. The med student approached the crimsonette to complete her task and already awaited the appreciation. Weiss was pretty sure she had finished this one in record time.

"Here you go, Doctor Rose.", she exclaimed enthusiastically, handed over the documents she was carrying, and added with a chuckle, "Hot off the press."

Unfortunately, the med student missed that Yang was waving her hands in a refusing manner behind the counter. However, she immediately realized her mistake the moment her attending physician addressed her.

"Wrong approach, Ice Queen.", Ruby responded with a devious grin and snatched the files out of a confused looking Weiss' hand, "Sorry to inform you, but your buddy is dead. My reign of terror, on the other hand, has only just begun. So welcome your evil tormentor again."

"I already guessed that something like that would happen eventually.", the white-haired girl sighed after she had regained her composure, "The day has gone way too smoothly, after all."

"Aww... and here I thought you missed me.", the crimsonette sniveled with (obviously) fake sadness.

"I did... my aim could use some work.", Weiss simply responded, "Also, I underestimated the recoil." Of course, it was just a sarcastic comment and the white-haired girl was even sure that this version of the young doctor expected these from her.

"Pretty good one, waste of space.", Ruby remarked, even with a hint of acknowledgment, "But I still think you sound better with your mouth shut. Anyway, I hope you're ready for a shitload of unnecessarily difficult tasks. Have to make your last twenty-seven minutes today something to remember, after all."

By now, Weiss knew better than to react to this threat. She had long since figured out when to respond with a witty retort and when to simply nod in a challenging manner. Also, she had started to simply think of Ruby as two different people, two attending physicians sharing her over the next two years. One was her friend, an encouraging, understanding tower of strength, the other one just an evil supervisor, cruel and unforgiving, yet striving to give her the best education possible. Good cop, bad cop – but both with the same goal: making an incredible doctor out of her.

And even though this thought might only graze the truth, at least it had kept her sane during these last couple of weeks.

However, just as the white-haired girl readied herself to face another one of her attending physician's rants before being given her tasks, Ruby's beeper suddenly started to ring. The crimsonette checked it and, just like a month ago, her eyes went wide again. Weiss even thought she could read the word "Fuck..." from the crimsonette's lips. Memories from the incident with the patient she had to cut open flooded the med student's mind immediately.

"I assume that something pretty bad happened, am I right?", Weiss asked carefully.

She didn't need to wait for an answer, though. Suddenly, the clattering of a ring binder hitting the ground echoed through the ward. The white-haired girl quickly turned around and noticed that Yang had jumped over the counter of the nurses' station, had been knocking over some stuff in the process, and was now running to the ICU's exit.

"You've heard the news, Rubes!", the blonde yelled over her shoulder, "You too, Weissicle. It's gonna be a busy night!"

"What's going on here?", Weiss asked quickly.

"A bus crashed into a coffee shop.", the crimsonette explained calmly upon her med student's confused expression, "Lots of broken people, probably half of them on the verge of death... and, just in case you have forgotten, these kinds of people are most likely brought here eventually since our sort usually tries to glue their limbs back on."

"Oh my gosh!", the white-haired girl exclaimed, the terrible accident easily overshadowing her attending physician's taunting remark.

"I know this is a lot to ask of a dainty, fragile princess like you...", Ruby said with a scornful chuckle while she grabbed some stuff from a crash cart (just in case), "But how would you like it to pull another all-nighter? Oh, and... just a warning: This one is probably going to be a lot harder than the last since we'll have to deal with a looot of patients... and I'm going to be on your tail all the time."

However, Weiss already knew that this was the way of the crimsonette's mean half to ask for a helping hand in a time of hardship.

Therefore, she immediately responded: "Bring it on, Doctor Rose. You know you can always count on me."

"And here I thought you're getting smarter, Ice Queen.", the young doctor sighed, "But now that you've sold your soul for tonight, there's no turning back... Even if you can't stand it and/or flag from exhaustion. Understood?!"

"Don't worry about me.", the med student reassured her attending physician, "I can handle it. I'm anything but the little princess you still take me for."

"Well, then. Move it.", Ruby commanded resolutely, yet, not overly harsh this time, "A lot of people are counting on us. And this... unfortunately... includes you, too. If you screw anything up, even if it's just a missing tittle on an insignificant form, you're done for. Have I made myself clear?" Then, without waiting for a response, she turned around and made her way through the ward.

"Crystal clear, Doctor Rose.", the white-haired girl quickly answered and followed suit, "I promise that you won't find a single thing to complain about!"

'As much as I hate to admit it... and never would say it out loud... she might be even right about that...', the crimsonette thought grimly as she approached the ICU's exit.

'Told you so.', sounded a smug voice in her head, "Even _you_ think that Weiss has what it takes."

Okay... _now_ Ruby's already foul mood was at an all-time low.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it seems that both Rubies have changed even more since the incident a month ago when the mean crimsonette had forced Weiss to cut that patient open. Admittedly, both halves still have their own way of doing things, but I'd like to say that they slowly come closer to each other. Furthermore, now they have to spend even more time with their med student in a long-lasting emergency situation. I wonder how that will turn out.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments. Again, I'm sorry for updating so late this month, but I hope this rather long bit of story was worth the wait. Stay tuned for the next chapter and have a nice day!


	12. ...Or Non of the Above

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geez... these chapters are getting longer and longer... This one is definitely the longest of the story so far... I guess it even rivals the longest chapter of "I could..." (for those who are familiar with my other stories). But then again, it is a pretty important one regarding the plot of this story...
> 
> Just a warning in advance: There's a really weird dream sequence in the middle of the chapter that might seem... incomplete. But don't worry, it will make sense in the end. Just see it as some kind of foreshadowing.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the next chapter and the big key point I have mentioned the last time.

This was it: This was the trial Weiss knew she needed to prove to both Rubies that she was just as capable of becoming a doctor as the crimsonette herself – to prove that she had what it took once and for all! The first one had consisted of horrendous working hours and an almost unmanageable workload, the second had been a test of her abilities to adapt to unpredictable situations and to cope with stress. Today's challenge would be a combination of _everything_. It was some kind of final exam to show the crimson-haired prodigy that she was worthy of learning under her, that she was similarly determined, ambitious, and passionate about being a doctor...

The terrible bus accident had happened in the end of Vale's rush hour: the bus, as well as the coffee shop the vehicle had crashed into, had been jam-packed with people. Unfortunately, that meant there were a lot of casualties, most of them in a pretty... lousy condition. Just like Ruby had mentioned, there was a whole lot to do for anybody who had the slightest bit of medical knowledge...

Apparently, the bus driver had suffered a stroke. Therefore, he had lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the café. The causes of the driver's stroke were still pretty much unclear but the doctors and nurses had better things to do than to wonder about this right now.

Weiss was loaded with a lot of simple and trivial tasks, however, that didn't make her job less significant. She was in charge of getting meds and supplies, patient charts and other stuff – she already knew the drill. Of course, since they were always surrounded by other doctors and nurses, Ruby couldn't order Weiss to perform a lot of tasks she legally wasn't allowed to do, like she had done about a month ago. Yet, the white-haired girl had to place some IVs when her attending physician had more important things to do.

Everyone was burning the candle at both ends trying to save the near endless flow of patients that was carried into the hospital. Port and Oobleck proved themselves to be not only good professors but also incredibly skilled doctors. Ren and Nora showed that they were more than capable of doing their respective jobs as well. Other than that, a lot of other people Weiss had barely seen at the ICU in her three months at the BGH (probably because they were usually working in other departments) were helping them out.

Even the chief of surgery, a man named Qrow Branwen, as the white-haired girl recalled, and his subordinates were doing internist's work whenever they weren't operating on someone. The first thing that occurred to Weiss about the man with the spiky hair and the stubble was the slight slur in his voice and the faint smell of liquor. Yet, nobody else seemed to either notice or be bothered by the fact that this man was obviously drinking on the job.

However, the most impressive person in Weiss' eyes (besides Ruby, that is), was definitely Yang. The blonde nurse hadn't been exaggerating when she had told Weiss that she could work for three people if it was about something important. Compared to her usual _slackitude_ when she was doing paperwork, it was a difference like night and day seeing her now. If the blonde would put that energy into everything she was doing, she would be head nurse in no time... at least. But then again, Yang seemed to have her priorities pretty much sorted out already.

In summary, everybody was working as hard and as ambitious as they could and, of course, Weiss didn't want to pale in comparison. This wasn't about proving something to Ruby anymore – this was about saving lives and showing _everyone_ that she was the best med student this hospital had ever seen... or at least the white-haired girl told herself that much.

But then again, if it wasn't for Ruby... would she still work _that_ hard... or accomplish tasks she wasn't even allowed to do? Break the rules? Be that ambitious... passionate about her job?

Fortunately, she didn't have much time to question all of this at the moment.

* * *

It was already late at night when the white-haired girl was finally dismissed. She took a look at her Scroll and her eyes went wide: The display showed half past one. In less than six hours, her alarm would sound and she would have to get ready for the first lecture of the day. Some of her fellow students had worked a few hours overtime as well but had been sent home long ago, nonetheless. But of course, Weiss hadn't brought that up to her attending physician – she had wanted to prove herself, after all.

Therefore, she had to stay by the crimsonette's side until (almost) the very end. Now, the emergency situation at the BGH was finally under control and Ruby had told her that she could "stop standing in everybody's way now" and let the real doctors handle the finishing touches. However, Weiss was sure that there was a hint of appreciation in the young doctor's voice while she sent her off with this taunt.

The med student quickly came to the conclusion that it was pretty pointless to return to the dorms and waste even more time she could and should spend recovering from this horrendous shift. Her legs were burning from all the running around, she had a terrible headache, and the approximately fifty cups of coffee she had drunk were causing a queasy feeling in her stomach. Weiss tried to block out all the warning signals her body was sending her as she made her way to the on-call room to get a well-earned snatch of sleep. At least she did a great job today...

The white-haired girl opened the door to the nap room as slowly and quietly as humanly possible. She didn't want to wake anybody up, after all. When she stepped into the almost pitch-black place with its several bunk beds, she was immediately met with the sound of soft snoring. Weiss' eyes needed a few seconds to accommodate to the darkness, but then she quickly made out an unoccupied bed, luckily, one on ground level – she was pretty sure that she wasn't able to climb an upper one in her current, completely exhausted state.

'Sweet slumber, here I come.', the med student sighed inwardly and crawled onto the mattress and under the blanket.

At least the day was finally over and didn't hold any nasty surprises for her anymore... or so she thought...

* * *

Weiss had almost drifted off to sleep when she suddenly felt herself being shoved to the side and against the wall. A moment later, the mattress sunk a little deeper when an additional weight was added. And, as if this wasn't annoying enough already, somebody snatched away the larger portion of her blanket.

"Hey, this bed is occupied.", the white-haired girl hissed.

"Like every other one, Ice Queen.", came Ruby's disinterested response, "Scoot over, I'm dead tired."

"And you _really_ don't have any other options?", Weiss asked annoyedly, yet, she was too tired to make more of a fuss about her reluctance of sharing a bed with another person.

"Believe me, I've tried to think of something else with all my might.", the young doctor said, "But racking your brain isn't exactly easy after eighteen hours of work."

"And here I thought this day couldn't get any worse...", the white-haired girl sighed.

"Listen here, Ice Queen: sharing a bed with you is one of the last things I wanted to do in my life, but you're the smallest one in here.", the crimsonette explained, "You might be an annoyance, but then again, I'm not very keen on being squashed by Port when he rolls over in his sleep... or sleeping right next to Yang's deafening snoring. The list goes on. Unfortunately, you're lesser evil at the moment."

"Urgh... fine.", the med student relented, "Just... stay away from me as far as possible."

"Aww... is little Weissy afraid that I'm going to feel her up?", Ruby asked mockingly.

"W-what? N-no!", the white-haired girl exclaimed and a heavy blush crept to her cheeks. Fortunately, she was facing away from her attending physician and the room was pretty dark.

"Don't worry about that, Ice Queen.", the crimsonette said, "If there's anything I want to do less than sharing a bed with you, then it's groping you in your sleep... not that there's much to grope anyway."

Upon hearing this statement, Weiss' blush deepened... but most of her embarrassment turned into anger. She knew she had a pretty small bust and was kind of self-conscious about that, however, mocking her because of that was way below the belt! The med student was about to give her attending physician a piece of her mind, but before she could speak up again...

"Hey... could you keep the noise down?", Yang suddenly grumbled sleepily and pretty annoyed, "I'm dead beat, my supper was a flat sandwich and a cup of cold coffee, and if anyone is going to go on my tits in the next six hours, I'm gonna throw something at them. Probably a fist. Have I made myself clear?"

"Y-yeah... Sorry...", Weiss quickly apologized. Ruby only gave her sister a grunt in return.

"Thought so...", the blonde nurse groaned, "I'll be nice again tomorrow... well, today, but later." Then, the rustling of bed sheets could be heard, and after that, the room went silent again.

'Let's hope Ruby will be, too...', the white-haired girl thought as she tried to pull the bed's blanket back a little – unsuccessfully, of course.

* * *

When the crimsonette opened her eyes again, she wasn't in the on-call room anymore – actually, she had no idea where she currently was. Everything was just... white... as far as the eye could see. She quickly figured out what was going on.

'A dream, huh?', Ruby thought, 'And since I can think that, it's probably a lucid one.'

"Hey, sweetie.", someone suddenly addressed her, startling her for a second... because she immediately recognized the voice.

The crimson-haired girl quickly spun around and was met with the spitting image of herself: The same silver eyes, fair complexion, and graduating black-and-red hair. However, for some reason, the person in front of her was kneeling but still on eye level with her. Ruby quickly looked down and realized that she wasn't her usual self – no, she was a little child, probably not older than four.

"It's been a while, am I right?", Summer asked with a warm smile upon seeing her daughter's confused look.

'You don't say...', Ruby wanted to retort. Yet, no sound escaped her lips. Okay... now that was weird. Even weirder than the fact that she hadn't dreamed of her mother in ages.

"I know we haven't... well, _talked_ much lately...", Summer continued, "Except for the times you were visiting my tomb. But then again, these conversations are always pretty one-sided..."

'Of course, you'd say that... since you're just some version of my mother my brain made up.', the crimson-haired girl thought, 'So I guess I can't expect any new information from you anyway.'

"I'm really sorry things had turned out that way, sweetie.", the older crimsonette apologized, "I never wanted to leave you alone. But I had no choice. I did what I had to do. You know that you were my everything... but you weren't the only one who needed me... that day. And I don't know if I'd change it if I could..." As she said it, a tear rolled down her cheeks, but she tried to keep her warm, comforting smile.

'That doesn't matter now.', Ruby wanted to say angrily, yet, her child-self still remained silent, 'You left me as I always feared you would. And it destroyed me! Literally! You were the most important person in my life! Now I have nothing left and it's your fault!'

"I know life put you to a gruesome and unfair test. But you have to cheer up again, my little Rose Petal. Even though I'm gone... you're not alone.", Summer explained as if she could read her daughter's mind, "There are still people in your life that will never leave you. And you're going to find others along the way."

'That's not exactly easy, y'know. As I said, the minute you died, I became broken.', Ruby tried to respond (again, unsuccessfully), 'Now, there are two of me... and we are either too clingy or a complete jerk. Oh, and there's nothing we can do about that. One way or the other, we are just scaring all the people around us away.'

"Stop thinking so negatively.", the older Rose said and now it was obvious that she _really_ could understand what Ruby was thinking, "Both of you have their good and bad sides. Now it is your job to find out how to work things out between the two. Try to find shared characteristics, priorities, interests. Something that connects your clingy and your withdrawn half. There has to be some common ground... something that will help you become whole again. May that be a project, a goal... or a person."

'But how does this...', Ruby began to think but was suddenly interrupted by a strange noise that rapidly approached them.

It was a siren! The crimson-haired girl knew the sound all too well. But there was no indicator of where it was coming from. It was just... there. What was the meaning of this? She had no idea. Summer, however, seemed to know what this was all about because her attitude changed quickly.

"Listen to me, my little Rose Petal.", she said, "I don't have much time. You can't do this all by yourself... as much as you want to. Of course, you can't be friends with everybody... but there are people out there who love you, who understand you... who maybe even are like you... and suffering like you..."

_"She's somewhat like you a few years ago."_

Wait? Was this... Yang's voice? Ruby immediately looked around but still couldn't see anything besides white, infinite emptiness. She and her mother still were the only people in this void.

"You have to rely on others... you have to let them participate in your life...", Summer went on.

 _"If I keep this up and you stop interfering, she will_ at least _demand another attending physician within the next week."_ This time, it was her own voice that echoed through the emptiness. And the statement she had just heard was obviously a negative example.

"...but you mustn't force it."

 _"I'm pretty sure she will stay at the BGH as long as we treat her nicely."_ Again, the voice of her adult self... and another example of how it shouldn't be. Were both of her personalities really _that_ fucked up?

Suddenly, the faint cracking of fire could be heard and Ruby was almost sure she could feel the warmth. It was pleasant at first but quickly got hotter until it was almost painful. The sound got louder and louder as well until it almost drowned out the sirens. It started to hurt her ears.

"People aren't always what they seem.", Summer explained further.

 _"Watch where you're going, you dolt!"_ Now that was Weiss – it was one of the first things she had said when they had met on the campus about three months ago...

"Kindness and hostility may be pretty easy to distinguish but there's always a reason why people will behave the way they do.", the older Rose continued, "Not everyone who treats you kindly wants your best... and not everyone who is bitter hates you. The nice ones might want to use you... the mean ones might just want to protect themselves. Everyone, you as well, has their past... and they can't change that. Nobody can. But they can still change their future. And you can help them with that... And they you."

 _"...she is almost as intelligent as you, struggles a lot of problems herself and is, all in all, maybe finally someone who understands you to some extent... She could become someone you could actually confide in..."_ This conversation fragment was from her therapy session about a month ago... What was the meaning of all that?

However, Ruby had no time to think about everything she just had heard. Without a warning, the volume of the noises around her, as well as the intensity of every other sensory input (like the heat of the fire), increased tremendously. Additionally, there were a couple more voices yelling unintelligible stuff, yet, even without understanding them the crimson-haired girl quickly noticed that they sounded horrified, to say at least.

"You're still you... deep inside. But somehow, both of your current fragments have lost their connection.", Summer explained and took her daughter's hand, "Your eager-to-please, as well as your withdrawn half, are neither good nor bad, but still... they miss something. They need each other just as much as they need something else in their lives... a purpose... a beacon. Whatever that may be. You need to patch yourself up, sweetie... but you can't do this all by yourself. If you see something special... in a goal, in a person, don't let go of that... one way or the other. Cherish it, embrace it, even if it scares you... only then you'll finally be able to put yourself back together again."

She had barely finished the last sentence before she slowly started to dissolve into white rose petals. Then, it hit Ruby! This was the day her mother had died: The sounds of roaring fire, the sirens, the yelling... she was about to witness Summer's death again in this weird chamber of endless nothingness. No! That couldn't be! She didn't want that! Anything but that!

"Be happy... be yourself again. Your _true_ self. That's all I'm asking for.", her mother finished as her body slowly evaporated, her hand slipping out of Ruby's in the process, "I love you, my little Rose Petal. And I... I'm sorry. For everything... Goodbye..." With these final words, the woman completely dissolved.

"M-mom?", the crimson-haired girl asked, the voice of her child-like self finally audible now, "Mom!"

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and tried to pull her away. Ruby wanted to resist, to chase after the rose petals that formerly were her mother somehow, but the grip around her wrist was too strong. The sirens, the fire, the yelling around her just got louder and louder... more piercing... more terrifying... but just when she was about to wake up screaming...

...she was suddenly pulled into a comforting embrace and everything went silent again. The crimson-haired girl couldn't see who was hugging her since her head was buried into the crook of the other person's neck, but at the moment she couldn't care less about that. She just slung her arms around the mysterious figure and pulled her even closer. Ruby had no idea why... but, for some reason, she was sure that it had been them that had silenced the terror in her mind.

This dream just got weirder by the second, yet, the crimsonette was sure it was trying to tell her something. Was there somebody out there who could help her overcome her mother's death? Not replacing her, of course, but somehow help her to move on? Someone who could restore her old self? Had she just to find this special someone and embark on this journey?

Or maybe... had she already met this person? Was it the one that was hugging her right now? The crimson-haired girl wanted to turn her head but, for some reason, she couldn't, even though the embrace wasn't firm enough to prevent it. She just... couldn't. Maybe she didn't want to at the moment anyway since it would mean to let go of the comforting warmth, the safety she felt right now, and the sweet smell of vanilla.

_"I won't back down. So cheer up. As for now, you're stuck with me."_

* * *

The faint beeping of a Scroll echoed through the on-call room but was silenced quickly after. Nevertheless, it was enough to wake Ruby from her slumber. However, being awoken was the last thing the crimson-haired girl wanted right now – she had been dreaming about such nice things, after all... at least in the end. Hell, she was almost certain that, even in her semi-conscious state, she could _still_ catch all the sensations of her dream:

There was the smell of vanilla and sweat, yet, the sweet scent easily outshone the other (still not necessarily unpleasant) one. A warm, comforting breath tickled her face and caused her lips to curl up into a small smile. Her forehead was pressed into something harder than a pillow, but then again, it was kinda enjoyable. Additionally, one of her hands was holding onto something soft, covered in cloth and rising and falling slowly and in a relaxed manner. And, finally, there was something slung around her waist, but it wasn't constricting her... it almost felt like it was _protecting_ her...

"Mmm... that feels nice...", Ruby purred sleepily and snuggled up even closer to whatever was lying next to her.

"It does...", breathed someone else and gently returned the cuddles.

For a short, blissful moment, everything was fine in Ruby's life. She didn't know exactly why, but right now, there wasn't a single thing on her mind but simply basking in this tender embrace. Something soft and squeezable was in her hand, like a little stress ball, yet, far more enjoyable... and wasn't there a firm nub to play with on top? Additionally, a gentle hand was massaging her side, easing every bit of tension in her whole body, even though it was just caressing a small part of it. Ruby wouldn't mind if this moment would last forever. But then...

Suddenly, it clicked in the crimson-haired girl's brain! She suddenly remembered into whose bed she had crawled yesterday. And, of course, she suddenly recognized the voice that had responded to her whisper! ...and, obviously, her bedmate came to the same conclusions.

Immediately, Ruby's and Weiss' eyes shot open, icy blue meeting steely silver. It was now that they realized they were barely an inch apart from each other. Their foreheads were resting together, their noses almost touching... for a moment, time seemed to have frozen...

Their eyes showed the same emotions: Confusion, vulnerability... fear? But also... expectation. The need to be understood, to be approved... not to be left alone anymore. A plea for reassurance... rescue... salvation.

They could feel each other's heartbeat. They were in sync... as if their hearts were searching for each other... as if there was some kind of... connection?

However, it only lasted for a short time.

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!", Ruby yelled while the only thing that escaped Weiss' lips was a completely flabbergasted "EEEEP!!!"

Both girls immediately backed away from each other, which caused the crimsonette to fall out of the bed, landing on her butt, and the white-haired girl to bang her head against the wall behind her. What the hell had just happened?! How did it happen?! Why had there been so many incredibly strange and unplaceable feelings?! What was the meaning of all that?!

Of course, the two girls' loud exclamations caused a few people who were still more or less sleeping in the room to groan annoyedly, but Ruby and Weiss had way too many other things on their minds than to care about that at the moment. The crimsonette was the first one who found her voice back.

"What do you think you were doing?!", she asked, still shocked about the whole incident.

"What _I_ was doing?!", the white-haired girl shot back, " _You_ have been the one who snuggled up to me and touched my... my... T-this was your fault!"

"I didn't do shit, jackass!", the young doctor exclaimed and now it was obvious which Ruby was in charge at the moment.

"I didn't do anything, either!", the med student responded.

"What a way to start the day...", came an annoyed grunt from Yang, still muffled by the pillow her head was obviously still buried into, "I really don't care what had happened between you two, but if you pleeeaaase keep the noise down, that would be great. Geez..."

"Okay, okay, okay.", the crimsonette suddenly relented and stood up, still speaking to Weiss and ignoring her sister completely, "Look, we were both asleep. It was just a stupid accident. I guess, no one's to blame."

Upon hearing this statement, the white-haired girl's eyes went wide. _No one's to blame?_ That didn't sound like Ruby's mean version at all.

"L-listen here, Ice Queen.", the young doctor continued hastily, "I'm off to get some shit done now and the moment the door falls shut behind me, this creepy incident never happened. Got it?!"

"O-of course.", Weiss stammered, still incredibly embarrassed.

"Alright. I'll see you at one.", Ruby said and straightened her clothes, "Until then... g-go and be bothersome somewhere else." With these words, she quickly turned around and exited the room.

The white-haired girl was left behind, utterly confused and her face still beet red. What, in all of Remnant's sake, was the meaning of this _unbelievably_ awkward moment she had just shared with Ruby? And why did it happen in the first place? Everything about it was just... beyond surreal. Weiss had never seen anything like this in somebody's eyes before... She had never felt anything like she was feeling now, either...

And even though the crimsonette's last comment was pretty much _evil Ruby_... something about it felt... off...

* * *

The young doctor was almost sprinting through the corridors. In the last few hours, she had experienced one of the weirdest dreams, the weirdest moments, the weirdest conversations and the weirdest feelings in her young life. Definitely in the top three, if not even... Of course, simply forgetting about this weird episode wasn't an option due to her eidetic memory, but maybe she could push it to the back of her mind somehow. Unfortunately, that little bastard was spinning at least as fast as she was walking right now.

'I can't believe _that_ happened. Was this your doing, dipshit?!'

'What?! N-no! Of course not! Oh my gosh, that was so embarrassing...'

'You're telling me? I know you're all touchy-feely with this white-haired pest... but me? Do you even have the slightest idea how grossed out I am at the moment?!'

'Stop blaming me. I was fast asleep, just like you. We have turned around unluckily and... i-it was an accident.'

'Urgh... What the hell were you thinking...'

'I thought nothing, geez... I. Was. Asleep! A-S-L-E-E-P!'

'I mean when you... when _we_ were awake again, dumbass!'

'I thought nothing, really! Pinky promise. Umm... W-what about you?'

'I thought nothing as well... huh... now that you mention it, I can't even remember thinking about anything at all. Not even about wanting to throw up.'

'Yeah, me neither. Well, not just the throwing up part, but... there's nothing in general. My mind was empty. There are a few seconds... missing?'

Suddenly, the Rubies came to an instant halt – both physically and mentally. How was that possible? They could remember everything in their life to the smallest detail. From the day they had lost their mother to the three extra drops the coffee maker had spit out after the machine's beep while they were passing the ICU's nurses' station a few seconds ago. Their memory was completely perfect, after all! And now there was a blank space, even though they had (or at least must've) been awake?

What the hell was wrong with them now?! Were they getting dumber? Was their condition getting worse? Was there a padded cell waiting for them already?

This wasn't good... This wasn't good at all!

* * *

This day, Weiss couldn't quite focus. She was currently sitting in her last lecture and tried to listen to her professor, but no matter how much she wanted to do so, everything that reached her ears was more or less just noise, no coherent speech. Whenever her hand automatically wrote down a note and the white-haired girl read it a few seconds later, she had neither an idea why she had taken it nor why she couldn't remember taking it in the first place. Even worse, in at least four out of five cases the new bullet item bore little to no relation to the previous one which made the whole summary of the lecture pretty useless.

But, as annoying all of this was already, the reason _why_ she couldn't focus on anything was far more irritating:

The only thing the med student could think about at the moment was her attending physician. Even though the embarrassing moment they had shared this morning was long since over, Ruby just wouldn't leave her mind... and Weiss didn't know why this was the case. Okay... she kinda knew why... but why would such a minor detail haunt her the whole day? It just... didn't make sense!

It was her eyes. The look in her eyes this morning the moment their glances had met right after waking up. There had been something inside of these silver orbs the white-haired girl had never seen before – even though it had lasted for just a few seconds... This hadn't been the happy and admiring look Ruby's nice version usually gave her, but then again, it hadn't been the stern, unforgiving glare of the crimsonette's other half, either.

No... those eyes had shown a completely new side of the young doctor. They seemed to look... vulnerable... expectantly... and, for some reason... _honest_. It almost felt like every other emotion both Rubies had shown her so far had been forced and feigned and this had been the first time she had dropped the mask... or rather _masks_.

All of these thoughts sounded incredibly stupid as they passed Weiss' mind, yet, the med student couldn't help but ponder them over and over again. She was so absorbed in them that she had completely forgotten where she was at the moment.

"Miss Schnee? Are you listening?", Professor Peach (another one of her lecturers) wanted to know and it somehow sounded like she wasn't asking for the first time.

"Uhh, no... I-I mean yes... I mean...", Weiss stammered confused, "W-what was the question again?"

"I was asking you about the main causes of the chronic kidney disease.", the Professor repeated and raised an eyebrow. She had already noticed that the white-haired med student wasn't herself today. Of course, she knew about her all-nighter as well.

"Umm... that must be... Just a second...", Weiss said and hastily scanned her notes until she had to come to the conclusion that they were pretty much useless. Then, she hung her head in defeat and admitted sheepishly: "I have no idea what you were talking about."

"Oh, dear...", Professor Peach sighed, "I guess your absent-mindedness has something to do with Doctor Rose again, am I right?"

"Yeah...", the white-haired girl grumbled. She wasn't even lying. Yet, usually, she was thinking about some kind of assignment or a complicated case, not about the crimson-haired girl herself and a weird psychological theory based on an expression she had seen on the young doctor's face for about eight seconds.

"I know how Doctor Rose can get sometimes, especially to you since you're her first med student. I also know that you want to prove yourself. You're just like her in that regard...", the Professor explained, "But if you keep giving out more than you get back in return, there won't be much left of you in the end. In order to take care of the patients, good doctors must take care of themselves first. Everybody needs a break from time to time. That's a lesson Ruby will have to learn eventually as well." The last part was barely a whisper, but Weiss (who was sitting in the front row) heard it anyway.

"I guess you're right...", the white-haired girl pondered, "Thanks for the advice, Professor."

"You're welcome. I hope you, as well as everybody else here, will try to keep that in mind.", the woman said and gave the white-haired girl a friendly smile, then, she addressed the whole lecture hall again, "Alright, students. Moving on. Does anybody else know what the main causes of the CKD are? If things are still unclear you can look it up in..."

Weiss let out a sigh and began to massage her temples. She knew that her Professor's speech had been about the horrendous workload she always burdened herself with, working overtime, doing additional tasks, and the like... However, it also applied to her overall relationship with Ruby and the promise the white-haired girl had made to Yang. Of course, Weiss tried to bear with her attending physician, to be of help because of her condition, but in the end, pretty much nothing changed. Quite the contrary: To her, it seemed that instead of improving Ruby's state of mental health, she herself was just becoming more and more confused, worn out, and emotionally unstable.

Would the young doctor drag her down into madness as well? Were mental alienations contagious? Had she become insane after just three months with Ruby as her attending physician? Or had she been broken already before she had come to this hospital and met the crimson-haired girl?

Three months... and her life was just revolving around becoming a doctor, pleasing her attending physician, and live up to her expectations... and now Ruby herself.

Maybe Professor Peach was right. Maybe she really needed a break from the girl. Even if that just meant pushing her out of her brain during her free time and the lectures... or whenever she didn't have to interact with her. That would definitely be more healthy...

But no matter how hard the white-haired girl tried, her mind just couldn't escape the image of those mysterious, silver eyes.

* * *

Ruby wasn't having a better day, either. Just like Weiss, she couldn't quite concentrate on her job. Admittedly, since she was a genius she was still a better doctor than most others, but far from the usual _Ruby-level_ , nonetheless. A lot of things just slipped her mind today, like taking patient charts with her after she had read them at the nurses' station or signing all of her prescription sheets before sending an intern or a nurse off to get some meds from the pharmacy. Her absent-mindedness was always punished with an extra walk... and she had to do a lot of them at the moment.

Even worse, in the four hours she had worked so far, she had already switched personalities three times. That had never happened before. This way, it was almost impossible to properly interact with a patient. By now, both Rubies were trying to act as emotionless as they could so nobody they had to see more than once today would be weirded out by her repeated change of character.

Currently, the young doctor was waiting at the laboratory to get some results. However, her eyes were glued to her Scroll. There were only four minutes and thirty-two seconds left until she had to reunite with Weiss at the ICU's nurses' station. And even though she didn't want to – since she had no idea how to handle the med student after the awkward incident this morning – the crimsonette knew that she had no choice.

She was already halfway between the lab and the nurses' station when she suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to pick up the test results she wanted to get in the first place. With an annoyed sigh, the crimson-haired girl made her way back. Why the hell was this happening that often today?

Okay, _forgetting_ was the wrong word. Things just slipped her mind, that was all. If she excluded the times when she simply left behind a clipboard or whatever because her mind was occupied with something else or the easily explainable memory loss after heavy drinking (the three times that had happened in her young life), she never forgot a single thing.

Ruby could easily explain why she was so rattled today and messed up patient charts or didn't sign her prescription sheets properly. She wasn't getting dumber (as feared earlier that day). Her condition wasn't getting worse, either. All of these things just happened that frequently today because she had way too much on her mind... because she was barely thinking about her job and mostly about... oh...

* * *

When the crimson-haired girl arrived at the ICU's nurses' station, Weiss was already waiting for her. However, for some reason, Ruby hesitated to approach her. She might be a genius when it came to medicine, and science, and pretty much everything that was written down or that involved a learnable procedure, but interpersonal stuff was something she was terrible at – always had been, actually. And that had only gotten worse since the whole split-personality stuff had started.

Fortunately for her, the med student seemed to be deep in thought and hadn't noticed her attending physician's arrival... yet.

'You have no idea how to approach her, am I right?', sounded a malicious voice in her head.

'You don't say, Captain Obvious. What about helping me a little?'

'Not my table.', snickered her mean half in their mind.

'It's your fault anyway because of all the awful things you've said to Weiss this morning... and especially this night before we went to sleep.'

'Do you really want me to regret insulting another person? Or maybe even apologize? I know you're a little confused right now, but you _do_ remember who you're talking to, right?'

'As if I could ever forget this. Anyway, do you have at least the slightest bit of advice for me?'

'Of course: You should stop talking to yourself and tend to your med student. She has noticed you, dipshit.'

It was now that Ruby realized that the white-haired girl was indeed looking at her – with a pretty confused expression. Apparently, the crimsonette's inner dialog had gone on longer than she had thought. Ruby suddenly wondered how dumb she must've looked right now, simply staring into space and neither saying nor doing anything... besides drooling, probably... Had she been drooling? Probably not. Would be a first...

The crimsonette quickly shook the weird thoughts out of her mind. Now wasn't the time to worry about her social awkwardness. The young doctor knew she had to say something to her med student. Yet, she had no idea what that should be...

Luckily, the white-haired girl made the first move.

"Hello, Doctor Rose.", Weiss greeted her attending physician, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible.

"Hi, Weiss...", the crimsonette responded, "It's me... Ruby. Umm... I-I mean, _nice_ Ruby. Of course, you know that I'm Ruby since I look like Ruby and... all that."

"Ooo...kay?", the med student said, taken aback a little by the younger girl's obvious disorientation.

"L-look, I'm really sorry about what happened this morning.", the crimson-haired girl quickly started over, trying to order her thoughts, "I really hope we can leave this behind us and be ordinary co-workers again... f-friends, if you want to. But that's not essential. I just want things to be normal again."

"Don't sweat it. It was an accident.", Weiss responded politely, "If it's bothering you that much, then let's just pretend it never happened."

'Maybe this way I can finally get this girl out of my mind again.', she added in thought.

However, what came next caught the med student completely off guard.

"A-and I'm also sorry about all the awful things my other half has said about you this night.", Ruby continued, starting to blush, "Y-you know... the stuff about groping you and... y-your chest."

"I-it's okay...", the white-haired girl reassured her attending physician and a faint shade of pink crept to her cheeks as well, "I'm already over it. I guess I'm pretty much used to your other half's rude comments by now."

"But it was still pretty mean.", the crimsonette explained and added without thinking, "And not even true. I-I mean... you... you have a nice chest." The words had already left her mouth before she could prevent it from happening. However, she quickly realized her weird slip-up and her face went so red it rivaled her favorite hoodie. Why the hell had she said that?!

"I-I mean... umm... not nice, but... well, not _not_ nice...", she stammered, "I-I mean... w-what I'm trying to say is..."

The incredible awkwardness of her speech was only surpassed by the fact that the crimsonette was now staring at her med student's boobs. And even though the young doctor noticed it (and probably noticed that Weiss was aware of it as well), she just _couldn't_ avert her gaze. The perky mounds under the white-haired girl's scrubs were the current topic, after all.

"A-anyway... umm... here is some stuff I want you to do today.", Ruby said, snapping out of her trance and handing Weiss a slip of paper, "P-please get me some meds for the patient in bed eleven and there's a new arrival in bed four I need the detailed history from. So... well, that's that. And... umm... w-we're cool, right? C-cool. S-see ya!"

With these words, the crimsonette turned around and almost dashed away, her face still burning with embarrassment. An equally embarrassed but also utterly confused Weiss was left behind.

'Urgh... that didn't even go remotely as planned. What the hell is wrong with me? Why did I say all of this stupid stuff anyway?!'

'Way to go, moron. I'm pretty sure eeeverything should be fine between the two of you now.'

'Ha-ha... Make fun of me if you want. But you wouldn't have known how to handle this weird situation yourself, either.'

'I definitely would've done better than undressing her with my eyes. Seriously, what the hell _is_ wrong with you?! Are you batting for the other team now?'

'I-I couldn't help it. Her boobs were the topic, after all. A-and they looked pretty soft... and that reminded me of our dream... a-and... this morning...'

'Do you even hear what you're thinking?!'

'Not really! As you may have noticed, my rational thinking isn't working AT ALL right now! That's why I said and did all of this creepy stuff in the first place! A-anyway, I'm pretty sure that you would've done something stupid yourself if you would've been in charge. You're just as weirded out as I am at the moment.'

'As if! Even though we're both equally socially awkward, I'm way better at handling this white-haired annoyance that you. And I definitely wouldn't have talked about her rack all the time. I guess... W-whatever! YOU have a Weiss ban from now on. I don't need you to fuck up this _employer-employee_ relationship even further. This had already gotten WAY worse than I ever wanted it to be!'

* * *

As fate would have it, about half an hour later, Ruby changed personalities again. She still had no idea why she was this _switchy_ today, as Yang always put it, and it started to annoy her. Normally, there had to be some kind of trigger, like an unreasonable patient, or an argument, but now it seemed that it was just happening randomly.

Whatever the reason for Ruby's current mental instability was, now it was her mean version's turn to interact with the white-haired med student. Of course, she was certain that she would handle the situation _waaay_ better than her other half – especially after mocking her that much. She would look pretty stupid if she would behave just as incompetently as the dimwit she shared a conscience with, after all.

It would be easy enough, though – Ruby's mean version was sure of it. This morning, she might have been too shocked to keep her composure, but now she had processed everything and could be her cold, distant, professional self again. This irritating awkwardness between her (as a whole) and Weiss wouldn't affect her anyway since _she_ intended to interact with her med student no more than necessary... unlike her other half.

Two or three sentences about forgetting about the unlucky incident, topped off with a witty and colorful insult to emphasize that everything was back to normal, and then she would send this white-haired nuisance on her way. It was THAT simple.

It wasn't especially hard to find her med student again since Ruby knew exactly what assignments she had given her. Weiss was currently standing in front of the laboratory, asking for some kind of results that weren't important at the moment. Even though her patients' well-being had always been the crimson-haired girl's top priority, now there was something more important going on. She had to get along with this Atlesian annoyance somehow for the next two years, after all, even though she didn't particularly want to. Therefore, pouring oil on troubled waters was essential at the moment. Her other half had already caused enough damage...

"Hey there, Ice Queen.", the crimsonette addressed her med student, "The only way you could be less productive right now is if you were, in fact, the wall on which you’re leaning against. Of course, then you'd be providing some jackass with a wall on which to lean against and reflect on what a jackass she truly is."

"That kinda sounded memorized and not pretty inventive.", Weiss shot back, immediately recognizing which version of her attending physician she was dealing with now. But, for some reason, she kinda felt bad for rebuffing the crimson-haired girl, even though it was her mean half.

"The rant was out of a sitcom I've seen a while ago.", Ruby admitted, "I'm not very creative today, for whatever reason. But then again, it's not that you deserve any better than some rehashed phrases..."

"A real pity, yet, I already thought so...", the white-haired girl responded, trying to sound resolute and self-assured... even though it somewhat hurt that her attending physician didn't go the extra mile to come up with an original insult this time... wait, what?!

"Whatever... since my other half has already dropped a brick on you, I wanted to make _my_ self clear.", the crimsonette began, "I pretty much don't care about what has happened in the on-call room tonight. Nothing has changed between us. You're my slave and I'm your god. I'm _sincerely_ sorry, but that's the way it is. Have I made myself clear?"

"Of course, Doctor Rose.", Weiss responded immediately.

"Awesome. I pretty much thought so.", Ruby continued, "I can't believe that I'm saying that, but you're actually not as stupid as I've thought. _Almost_ acceptable. And with a little training... how knows... I know my other half wants to be all lovey-dovey with you, but I hope you know better than that. We're just colleagues. A team. Comrades on a mission. Nothing more! As long as you internalize that, we'll get along well... kinda... but still expect a lot of insults. As I've said a thousand times already, I don't need a weak, insecure, and feeble med student. If you can cope with me, I promise you that you'll leave this hospital as one of the best physicians there is... or in a body bag. Whatever comes first."

"Again, thanks a lot, Doctor Rose.", the med student responded, "I'm glad that you're offering me that opportunity... and... won't try to get rid of me anymore."

"I didn't say that... but... I guess that's the way it is now.", the crimson-haired girl said casually, "However, I will change my opinion towards this the moment you fuck up something. So watch your ass."

That should take care of this weird tension between them, Ruby was sure of it. Incredibly proud of herself and her conflict resolution skills, she snatched the patient charts she had demanded out of Weiss' hand and wanted to turn around again. But then, her mouth acted on its own, like her other half's had half an hour ago.

"Look, I'm not trying to sort this out because I start to like you or anything. I'm just doing this because if I don't I'm pretty sure Yang, or Blake, or my other half will give me shit for it, and I don't need that.", she explained, "But never forget: you're just my subordinate and I couldn't care less about your very being... It still really doesn't matter to me how intelligent, or ambitious... or cute you are..."

Wait? What?!

"Wait? What?!", Weiss managed to croak out.

"Wait? What?!", Ruby immediately repeated. Suddenly, she was taken aback. Why the hell would she say that?!

"I-I mean... objectively speaking...", the crimsonette tried to correct herself, "M-maybe you... could be the... dorm bicycle or something, I don't know... It's not that I care about that stuff anyway... D-do the crap on your list, dipshit! You're not here to twiddle your stupid thumbs!"

Just like half an hour before, a pretty heavy blush crept to her face and she quickly turned away from her med student so the white-haired girl wouldn't see it. Then, without a warning, she took off like a bullet. Everything that mattered at the moment was to get away as far as possible from this cursed white-haired girl.

Again, an embarrassed and confused Weiss was left behind. What was wrong with Ruby today? The med student had no idea why her attending physician was behaving that weird. Had this intimate incident they had shared this morning gotten that deep under her skin?

Wait... Intimate?! What was she thinking?!

* * *

'Wooow! That was waaay better than my incoherent rambling. Your speech was definitely less awkward... especially that last part.'

'Shut! The! Fuck! Up! I have no idea what happened back then! It was... I was... Urgh...'

'I would give you a Weiss ban from now on as well, but then none of us would be able to talk to her anymore.'

'Stop making fun of me, dipshit! Instead, how about you try to help me solve our problems. Why the hell are we acting that weird around this white-haired annoyance now? Everything was fine before... y'know.'

'You cuddled with her and fondled her boob this morning?'

'I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING, BUTTHEAD!'

'Well, I didn't do it as well, you big meanie!'

'Damn it... how about we... urgh, my head hurts... just stop passing the blame to each other and figure out what's going on with us. Deal?'

'Deal.'

'Thank goodness... alright. Ceasefire until everything's back to normal.'

'Okay, let's sum things up: We had a weird dream about our mom and Weiss. Something about finding back to our _true_ self. Then, I faintly recall feeling something nice and then there is this weird memory gap none of us can explain.'

'So far correct. Then, we woke up and realized what was going on. I backed away and snapped at Weiss. We left the room and tried to mind our own business. Yet, this white-haired annoyance won't leave our mind all day.'

'Yup... and now, every time she's close to us, we can't think straight anymore. We say stupid things, we blush uncontrollably, our heart rate speeds up and... oh no...'

'What?' For some reason, this _oh no_ sounded like trouble.

'Well, I can only speak for myself, but I guess if you take these... hormonal reactions into account... I... l-like Weiss? As in... umm...'

Suddenly, it hit Ruby's mean half.

'Oh no, you don't! You can't have a crush on her or something! Even if we leave aside the fact that she's our _med student_ and we're her _attending physician_ , none of us is mentally capable of having that kind of relationship. I don't care how you do this, but immediately stop having these fucked up feelings... for another girl, on top of that!'

'And what about you? It's not that I'm the only one to blame here!'

'What about me? I hate this white-haired nuisance! If it would've been up to me, we would've gotten rid of her in the first two weeks!'

'Oh, really? Then what about all the times you have encouraged her? You even have made her risking her whole medical career.'

'I needed her to get some shit done so the patient didn't die that day! That's all!'

'Okay, then how about yesterday? You could've sent her away like everybody else did. She's just a med student, after all. Yet, you wanted her around. Riddle me this!'

Upon hearing this, Ruby came to a halt. Her other half was right about everything she just had said... well, thought... The original plan had been to get rid of her med student, yet, it seemed like a distant memory to the crimsonette now. That begged the question... why was she, the mean and withdrawn one, encouraging Weiss lately... for over a month now, actually? Why had she wanted the white-haired girl to tag along with her yesterday? She, who hated other people more than anyone and usually wanted to keep them at a distance at all cost. That could only mean...

Everybody at the ICU took a step away from the crimsonette when she suddenly yelled:

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now that takes care of Ruby's train of thought... and the incredibly frightening conclusion she, or rather THEY had to come to. How will both crimsonettes handle their new feelings towards their med student? I mean, it's not like they can let themselves in for a relationship with Weiss, even if the white-haired girl would be interested in that. What would that be otherwise? Some weird kind of love triangle? Ruby's still pretty much broken. But then again, wasn't there a small glimpse of the real Ruby in this chapter?
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think about the chapter in the comments. I know it was pretty weird sometimes but I hope it made at least a little sense and, of course, advanced the plot to some degree. Admittedly, not that much happened besides both Rubies' realizations, but I'd say that's already something.
> 
> Whatever, pals! I hope you enjoyed this key point. Stay tuned for the next one and have a nice day!


	13. Open Day in Dr. Belladonna's Office

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright... now that both Rubies have come to realize that they actually like Weiss, they now have to do something they never really wanted: working together to sort this out as well as dealing and coming to terms with their true feelings.
> 
> Spoiler alert: It doesn't go as planned...

Ruby was pretty sure that she should start writing a book. A real book. No medical, scientifical or philosophical essay, published in some kind of journal... but an actual book. A lifestyle guidebook. A beginner's guide to young people who aren't used to heavy drinking but don't see another choice:

The first whiskey tasted terrible. It just burned the throat and left every single tastebud screaming for mercy. It probably would've tasted better in a cocktail or a long drink... But that wasn't the plan. That wasn't even close to the plan. The plan was to order doubles as long as it was necessary.

The second one still aggravated the tongue, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the first one. The taste was still pretty gross... the sacrifice one had to make if the aforementioned person ordered the cheapest, yet most efficient beverage... given its percentages. But then again, a single malt would've been the better option... money wasn't the crucial factor here, after all.

The third one was almost acceptable. The divine numbness of one's senses tided over the disgusting flavor of "Brannigan's", the specialty of the _Crow Bar_ , one of the more shadier taverns in Vale, but not the worst... for whatever reason. Really, the reason for the pub's popularity was completely unclear – given the _quality_ of the drinks, the service, the location, and, to be honest, almost everything...

The fourth one tasted magnificent. The sickening flavor was completely forgotten, the only thing that remained was the whiskey's purpose. It's beautiful, beautiful purpose... To completely dull thoughts, theories, feelings, emotions, and, most importantly, _thoughts_.

Was there a repetition in Ruby's mind? She didn't care. She couldn't care less about everything. Despite one single thing... and this fact, this detested, accursed, annoying, obnoxious, truly unacceptable fact made this whole bender pretty much pointless...

* * *

'We _can't_ like Weiss...', Ruby's withdrawn half sighed in her mind, 'She's our med student. And a nuisance... and I don't wanna like a nuisance... especially not in _like-like_... if you know what I mean.' The alcohol was already taking its toll on her cognitive abilities.

'I also know that this is incredibly stupid... but let's face the facts...', the crimsonette's other half tried to object, 'We're complete idiots anywhere near her, all the biological factors are pretty much accurate... and, and I can't believe I have to incorporate this into our _conversation_ , we involuntarily thought about using this _boob-fondling incident_ as our masturbatory aid at least three times since we left this damn hospital. We don't even masturbate that much in a month, mostly because it's utterly weird because we're two people sharing one body!'

'Calm down, dipshit! I know what we were thinking about the last few hours... even though I want to try to forget it...', the young doctor's mean half mentioned and downed the last remains of their fourth whiskey, 'That's why we're drinking! That's why we wanted to take a vacation day to _relax_... something we, and I hope I don't have to remind you, never had done before. I knew this Atlesian low life would cause nothing but trouble. This is your fault!'

'My fault?! You're at least as much to blame as I am! We share the same conscience, after all, so I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who wants to have some kind of... dunno... relationship with her or something along these lines...'

'Whoa! Easy there! I never said nor thought I wanted to have that kind of... whatever you wanna call it with this white-haired nuisance. I'm her boss... _We're_ her boss! Never forget that! I don't care what weird dream, or moment, or feeling, or whatever caused all of this... urgh! We're Weiss' attending physician... nothing more! Got it?!'

'Yeah... I know being together or whatnot is impossible because we're her boss... But... umm, y'know... when she has finished her studies and becomes...'

'Do I really have to spell it, you brainsick imbecile?! Succumbing to these weird, inexplicable, and toxic feelings is the worst that could happen. This girl has caused nothing but trouble so far. First, she was a dickhead. Then, she was pretty much useless, a little girl laden with complexes and unsolved problems. After that, she was just a lickspittle, someone trying to buy our favor with handling unmanageable workloads and things she wasn't even allowed to do! Doesn't that seem suspicious to you?!'

'Well, kinda... but regarding these last things... she just did it for _you_! She wanted to prove herself to you. She wanted to show you that she's just like... we were. She's... pretty awesome... A-and I don't mean that in a way you might think I meant it. It's just... she's like us. Brilliance, vocation, dedication...'

'Damn it... I want to say you're wrong, but... wait, gimme a sec...'

'No... You know what I'm talking about... So, please... Answer me this: Is it really that wrong to like somebody who finally seems to be like...'

* * *

"Yo, Sis!", Yang's voice cut through the boisterous crowd, and everybody went silent... mostly because the majority of the occupants in this bar already knew the blonde and wanted to be on... good terms with her. Otherwise... several shivers ran down several spines.

"What do you want, Yang?", came Ruby's disinterested response. She didn't need to make clear which version of her was in charge to her sister, after all. In this regard, the blonde was like a track hound.

"Well, having a drink... oh, and asking you an obvious question: Why do you try to get shitfaced without your big sister?", the blonde noted and sat down on a bar stool right next to the crimsonette, "I mean, it's pretty much likelier to see Nora offering someone the last pancake on her plate than seeing you drinking alone in a bar. The _Crow Bar_ , on top of that. Did you _want_ to run into me, baby sis?" The last part was spoken with a fair amount of glee.

"I'm an adult, I drink in bars.", the young doctor responded monotonously.

"No, you aren't... and no, you don't.", Yang shot back with a shit-eating grin.

"I'm legally old enough to drink.", Ruby explained annoyedly and, probably just to piss her sister off, ordered another whiskey, "I'm nineteen... in a few months..."

"Alright, let's start over.", the blonde said conciliatorily, "Why are you drinking? Whiskey straight, on top of that. You don't even like alcohol and every time you... _utilize_ it, for the lack of a better word, there's always a reason."

"I thought about trying something new for a change.", the crimson-haired girl responded, "I'm having the day off tomorrow anyway."

"No shit?", Yang asked surprised. Her sister taking a day off voluntarily was like seeing Sasquatch playing poker with two unicorns and a leprechaun under a double rainbow.

"Yup.", Ruby said, popping the _P_ , received her drink and downed half of it immediately, "I don't have any critical patients at the moment, Oobleck agreed to cover for me, and Ozpin is actually happy when I try to reduce my accrued vacation days. So I'm, well, _vacationing_."

"Rubes... you don't _do_ vacationing.", the nurse reminded the younger girl with a flat expression, "You normally take a few weeks of vacation at a stretch to serve an internship at another department of the hospital... usually in surgery to annoy Uncle Qrow. Oh, aaand to learn new stuff and all that."

"And now I've taken a vacation day to drink and relax, so what's the big deal?", the crimsonette remarked and downed the rest of her whiskey, "I'm com... *cough* ...plex and mysterious... deal with it."

"Fine with me.", Yang shrugged and ordered her usual, Strawberry Sunrise, "But then again, are you really sure that there's nothing else you want to tell me? Something that may be connected to the fact that you're sitting here and downing your... lemme guess, fourth whiskey in a matter of seconds?"

"Fifth...", Ruby corrected her disinterested, "And no... there's nothing I wanna talk about. But I guess there's something you wanna pestering me with."

"I didn't even know I'd find you here.", the blonde responded, got her drink and took a sip, "But since you've already mentioned it: What the hell is going on between you and Weiss? And what happened this morning in the on-call room? It sounded like you wanted to kill her."

Upon hearing Weiss' name, the crimson-haired girl immediately blushed deeply and averted her gaze.

"I-I always wanna kill her.", Ruby said, hoping her sister wouldn't notice her blush, "Her and her stupid boobs..."

Suddenly, the young doctor's eyes shot open. Shit... Why did she say that? Must be the stupid whiskey. Maybe Yang had missed hearing it.

"What was that?", the blonde asked confused and raised an eyebrow.

"What was what?", Ruby asked back. Damn it...

"Well, I could've misheard that, but I'm pretty sure you said something about the boobs of your med student.", Yang clarified, "Could it be that you're drunk already?"

"As if...", the young doctor grumbled and, completely out of spite, ordered another whiskey, "And _I'm_ pretty sure I wasn't talking 'bout Weiss' boobs. I mean, even _if_ I were to talk 'bout them, there's barely anythin' to talk about. So why talking 'bout them inne first place?" There was already a slur in her voice. Apparently, the last hastily downed drinks were finally taking their full effect.

"Okay, sis.", Yang sighed and shuffled a little closer to the crimsonette on her bar stool, "What in hell's name has happened this morning with Weiss? Wait... has she done something indecent? I'll give her a knuckle sandwich."

Of course, the blonde highly doubted that something like that had happened. Her knowledge of human nature might be not as good as Blake's but she knew that the white-haired girl wasn't the kind of person that would do this. Weiss hated (and feared) the mean version of her sister, after all. However, Yang also knew she had to play along to elicit some answers from Ruby.

Therefore, she continued overdramatically: "You have to tell me if she has groped you. I won't allow this kind of molestation to happen to my baby sis. This bitch is gonna go down!"

"N-no! Nothing happened, really!", Ruby hastily explained, "She... umm... she has just rolled over in her sleep and the first things I had to wake up to were her stupid face and her stinking morning breath. And... I kinda lost it a little... y'know, like always. I'm not a morning person, after all, so... umm... yeah. That."

"Alright... if you say so.", Yang responded with a small grin, relaxed again, and took another sip of her drink, "But tell me if she does something that bothers or annoys you. It's kinda my fault that you're stuck with her, after all."

"Everything she does bothers or annoys me.", the crimson-haired girl sighed and downed half of her next whiskey, "The way she does everything to meet my expectations, no matter how hard I try to demand too much. The way she proves to me that she's actually pretty skilled, and smart, and caring, and not the dumb, white-haired nuisance I want her to be. The way she styles her stupid, off-center ponytail, only to make it look like it'd be fun to play with it. The way she always says "Hello, Doctor Rose" with her stupid, boo-boo-baby, soothing voice. The way she looks at me with these dumb, big, blue eyes as if she's staring right into my soul and wants to assemble all the broken pieces of it. I mean, isn't that annoying?! And that's only the tip of the iceberg."

"Umm... Rubes...", the blonde said thoughtfully (and carefully), "It almost sounds like you... well, how do I put it... admire Weiss for doing all of these things rather than hating her."

"WHAT?! Don't be rilicturous.", Ruby slurred and emptied her glass, "Haven't you noticed how often I used the words stupid, dumb, and annoying? I did this for a reason, y'know. To make clear how stupid, dumb, and annoying this stupid, dumb, annoying... umm... annoyance is and how much she stupids, dumbs, and annoys me."

'Wow...', Yang thought in a mixture of worry and slight amusement, 'She really is a lightweight. That aside... I don't know if it's just the whiskey, but it kinda sounds like Ruby _likes_ Weiss. As in... huh... I mean, it's not that I haven't gotten a little bi-curious while being drunk myself yet, but I never guessed that my little sis would be into that. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it. Anyway, I think it's best to carry that little party animal home soon. I hope she doesn't puke on my leather jacket... like the last time.'

"My other half hates this white-haired nuisance, too, even though she doesn't say it.", the crimsonette continued... and it sounded more and more like she wanted to convince herself rather than her sister, "But that's just 'cause she _can't_ because of her... what wasse right term again? Psyologial... mind... thingie."

"Sounds about right.", the blonde agreed and tried to suppress a chuckle.

"Because even _she_ knows that Weiss' being-nice-ness is just façade.", Ruby drunkenly rambled on, "She, and now I mean Weiss, is just kind to us now because she, umm, Weiss again, is afraid of us because we, that's me 'n my other me, are her boss. She, uhh, Weiss probably thinks we, that's us, have forgotten that she, umm, us, no, Weiss, had treated us, that's me 'n me again, like shit the first day we met her. But we haven't forgotten. We never forget! Because we're the smartiest! Smartiests... Smartiests? Thassounds weird... Hey, barkeep! 'nother one!"

"Uhh, I think you had enough, Rubes.", Yang reasoned with her sister and signalized the bartender not to serve the crimson-haired girl yet another whiskey, "Just because you work in a hospital doesn't mean you can steal a liver transplant and implant it yourself. So take it a little easier, okay?"

"Urgh... I guesh y're right...", the crimsonette sighed, stood up, and started staggering. She would've probably fallen over if it wasn't for her sister who caught her quickly.

"Easy there, Wobbles.", the nurse said in a comforting voice, "Heavy seas..."

"Thank you...", Ruby mumbled and relaxed into the embrace, "I love you, Weish... umm, I mean Yang. My other me does, too, but you know she can't say that. That she loves you... not Weish. Not that _I_ love Weish. Jusht mixed up something... My head hurts... Are we go'n home now? Ruby sleepy."

The blonde immediately realized that her sister had just switched personalities again. If the mean version of the girl would've said the L word in their current state, she probably would've puked – and not just gagged like usual. However, Yang was still a bit confused about these weird statements about Weiss. But she knew better than to address it. It wouldn't make sense anyway to ask, given the younger girl's current state.

"Yup. We're going home now, Rubes.", the blonde agreed and patted her sister's back soothingly, "You're three sheets to the wind."

"I'm not as think as y'drunk I am...", the crimson-haired girl slurred, "Jusht tired."

"Whatever you say, sis.", Yang chuckled and let Ruby lean on her, then, she turned to the barkeeper one last time, "Hey, Rusty. Put everything on my tab. I have to tuck this little party girl in."

The blonde got a nod and a grin in return, gave the man a thumbs-up, and carried her by now almost unconscious sister out of the tavern. She highly doubted that the cool night air would be enough to sober the crimson-haired girl up enough to restore her ability to walk on her own. Yang was pretty sure that this would be a looong way home... and she couldn't even finish her Strawberry Sunrise.

* * *

The next morning, Ruby awoke to the feeling of someone trying to drive a nail into her head... and whatever hammer they were using, this damn thing produced the same noise as her alarm clock with every blow, just about a hundred times louder. A well-placed punch silenced the annoying device on her nightstand, however, an ugly cracking sound told the crimsonette that she would have to replace it.

For a weird reason, Ruby wished that she would've broken her wrist while smashing her alarm. The fracture would've distracted her from her terrible headache, after all. The young doctor was certain that there was no amount of aspirin that could ease the pain in her noodle – why the hell had she been drinking that heavily last night?!

She hardly ever took to the bottle and if she did, there was always a reason for it. Her incredible brain was her greatest asset, after all, so she wouldn't do something that would damage her gray matter without thinking twice about it. The most obvious reason was that she had wanted to erase something unpleasant from her otherwise perfect memory...

Of course! She had tried to forget about yesterday: The boob-fondling incident with her med student, the utterly embarrassing conversations with her afterwards, and, of course, the realization that she had a crush on Weiss... wait...

"Fuck!", Ruby shouted... and immediately regretted it because the yell almost caused her head to explode. But even through the pain the crimsonette quickly realized that yesterday's drinking orgy had been completely useless. This white-haired annoyance still floated around in her head. Stupid mind, stupid memory, stupid life.

The young doctor reluctantly dragged herself out of her bed and almost knocked over a bucket that was standing next to it – probably a safety measure from Yang. It was empty... however, Ruby could taste vomit in her mouth. Her throat was sore as well and she had a terrible heartburn. "Brannigan's" obviously had more similarities to a frost protection agent than to a whiskey...

Meds! The crimsonette needed something, _anything_ to ease the discomfort in almost every part of her body. Headache pills, medication for acid reflux, throat lozenges... heck, whatever kind of painkillers the medicine cabinet had to offer, Ruby would eat them like candy. This was, without a doubt, the worst hangover she had to deal with so far.

Ruby scuffed into the living-kitchen area of the apartment and quickly realized that she was alone. Right... Yang had gone to work but she had taken the day off. There was a glass of water on the countertop next to the sink, two headache pills lied next to it. Thank goodness...

The crimsonette dragged herself to her _breakfast_ – consuming solid food was unthinkable at the moment. Next to the water and the meds was some kind of note. Ruby snatched it from the countertop, shut one eye to focus her blurry vision, and took a look at it:

"Hey, sis! Thought I'd do you a favor and make yourself some "breakfast". By the way, you're getting heavy. How about going to the gym from time to time. Anyway, enjoy your hangover."

Under her sister's scrawl were a heart and a poorly scribbled chibi Yang giving her a peace sign. Ruby let out an annoyed sigh, took the pills and downed the water afterwards. She suppressed the urge to throw up and scuffed into the bathroom. A cold shower would either wake her up or cause a heart attack... One way or the other, her suffering would be eased... win-win...

The crimsonette bit back about twenty curse words the moment the icy water hit her. At least she was fully awake now, even though she could probably cut glass with her nipples now... Damn it! The weird comparison that had entered her mind immediately recalled the memory of Weiss' soft chest and the hard nub while she had... no! Begone, stupid picture! Ruby wanted to puke at the thought but, for some reason, she only felt an odd sensation in a specific part of her body.

As fast as humanly possible, the young doctor finished her shower and stumbled out of the tub. She needed to get these inappropriate whatevers out of her mind... and fast. Wasn't there an unopened bottle of Scotch in one of the kitchen's shelves? A gift from an old, rich patient her nice version was too polite to decline... Awesome idea! A hair of the dog and another chance to erase her memories and emotions.

The queasy feeling in her stomach immediately told her that this wasn't an option. Just the smell of alcohol would most certainly cause her to regurgitate the previously consumed glass of water and the two undigested pills into the next sink or toilet bowl. That would be pretty counterproductive... Also, the crimsonette knew that she was probably too young to start developing a booze dependency. Functioning properly while being drunk 24/7 wasn't as easy as her honorary uncle made it look like, after all.

No... constantly numbing her feelings with alcohol was no good. She had to deal with the root of the problem. Weiss... or, to be more precise, these weird feelings she had for the med student. These couldn't be real... There had to be some kind of logical explanation to them:

Maybe she had some illness that messed with a couple of her neurochemicals, namely Oxytocin, Endorphin, Serotonin, and Dopamine. Maybe it had to do something with the constant closeness to this white-haired annoyance, Stockholm syndrome or the like. Maybe the white-haired girl was some kind of siren... the most fucked up fairy tales came from the northernmost continent, after all. There were so many possibilities...

But maybe... only maybe... she really liked Weiss, for whatever reason. Admittedly, the white-haired girl had some qualities that _might_ be attractive to other people. Her physical appearance might match the common ideal of beauty for the most part... her personality might be pretty interesting: she was smart, and witty, and ambitious, and somewhat challenging... in a good way... Also, something in her tragical brokenness due to her upbringing and her drive for perfection was somewhat... cute. All in all, taking a fancy to the white-haired girl wasn't that much of a bad choice...

Nevertheless, _she_ having a crush on _Weiss_ was unacceptable! It couldn't be! She needed to get rid of this emotional ulcer! Maybe, if she could comprehend why she was having these weird feelings, analyze them, and find some kind of logical explanation, she could consider it over and done with and everything would return to normal.

Unfortunately, Ruby knew that she (despite being a genius) couldn't do this on her own. Being academically educated and having a perfect memory wasn't overriding social awkwardness, after all. She had experienced firsthand a thousand times already that she was too mentally broken to properly deal with her emotions and/or complicated interpersonal relationships herself...

Much to her dismay, there was only one person who could assist her with these issues... and, to be honest, it was the last one she wanted to discuss the topic with.

* * *

Sometimes, Blake could sympathize with Yang, even though her self-proclaimed (yet somewhat established) best friend was kinda irritating sometimes. Paperwork was annoying... necessary but annoying. Tapping away at a keyboard and typing the same things over and over again would grind your gears sooner or later, no matter how mentally thick-skinned you were. A therapy session with a patient was way more interesting. But the black-haired woman knew that database maintenance was unavoidable if she wanted to do her job properly... and unlike Yang, Blake wasn't fond of procrastinating. The sooner she got this over with, the better.

The psychiatrist was almost halfway done with her organizational matters when she heard a knock on her door... which broke her concentration. Now that was odd: It rarely ever happened that someone paid her a visit without an appointment, not even Yang. The blonde was already used to their silent agreement: Blake would always visit her at the ICU's nurses' station in the late afternoon.

"Come in.", the psychiatrist said politely and closed her laptop for the time being. She was pretty certain that whoever was visiting her would leave again soon. However, the person that entered her office was the last one she would've expected.

"Hey, headshrinker...", Ruby grumbled, a cup of coffee in her hand, "I... _we_ need to talk to you."

"Oookay... that's a first.", Blake noted surprised (Ruby, especially _this_ Ruby, had never consulted her outside of their therapy sessions every two weeks), "To what do I owe the honor?"

"Very funny...", the crimsonette responded annoyedly, "Ruby the Great, groveling before the usually insignificant _Doctor_ Belladonna... I guess you're so happy about this that you'll have to change your panties once I'm gone."

"Oh, definitely.", the black-haired woman retorted with a smug grin, "Submissive, eighteen-year-old, already licensed doctors with severe personality disorders are my favorite kind of fetish."

"Stop this mirroring bullshit already where you imitate my speech and behavior to feign empathy.", Ruby gnarled, "I'm smart enough to know that this is simply some kind of shrink strategy to trick the stupid into revealing they cut themselves because they want attention or that they think of Daddy under the shower... but I'm having a serious problem here. So could you _please_ just listen to me and help me fix all the new crap that had happened?! Like, y'know, resetting me to Ruby version 2.0 again?!"

"Wow... sounds pretty serious.", Blake admitted, "And it's probably the first time I heard _you_ using an honest _please_ while talking to me. Alright, then. Take a seat. Tell me what's bothering you and I'm trying to help you the best I can."

"I highly doubt that you'll be of any use but, unfortunately, I'm running out of options.", the young doctor sighed, sat down in front of the psychiatrist, and took a sip of her coffee, "Urgh... I can't believe I'm actually here..."

"You smell of booze...", the black-haired woman noted dryly, "Are you drunk?"

"Something between still drunk from yesterday and incredibly hungover...", Ruby admitted and added annoyedly, "Does that matter?"

"The fact that your emotional troubles took you so far that you got hammered yesterday, even though you don't even like alcohol?", Blake asked smugly, "Well, I guess there might be some kind of connection. How about you tell me what happened... from the very beginning of your... recent mental discomfort."

The crimsonette hesitated for a moment. Normally, she never told the black-haired woman about her most sensitive emotions and weirdest moments. This awkward Weiss-stuff was one of these... The fucked up dream another one... Enjoying touching the white-haired girl's chest... oh boy, she would take this to her grave if necessary...

But it wasn't just her that avoided these crucial topics – her other half tried to work around them as well, although out of other reasons. Admittedly, _nice_ Ruby was a little more open about their emotional state and the experiences they made, but even she knew that there were some things they could _never_ tell anybody about...

Of course, they both wanted to become sane again, but then again, their unclassifiable personality disorder and the ton of complexes that went with it made a classical talking cure quite difficult, to say at least. Ruby (or rather her twisted mind) was her own worst enemy in that regard.

Nevertheless, the young doctor was sure that there was a way to avoid talking about all of this aggravating and embarrassing stuff and still get some kind of useful advice. Something she and her other half could actually use to leave everything behind and go on as usual... without making a complete fool out of themselves. Blake didn't have to know about _all_ the weird things that were haunting their mind, after all. Just enough to deal with the task at hand...

"Alright... how do I start?", the crimsonette pondered, "The reason for my... our visit is that... well, we're recently having some new, weird obsessive thoughts and emotions that don't really fit either of us. And I'm... afraid that our condition is getting worse. To the point where we're no longer able to function properly anymore. I mean, even with our switching personalities and all that crap, we were still able to do our work and, to some extent, be tolerable to the people around us so far. But now it's... getting more and more frustrating."

"Okay, but that's _just_ the problem...", Blake said and took some notes, "Now we need to discover the reason behind it and after that, try to fix it. Since when are you feeling that way?"

"Pfft... don't act like you don't know!", Ruby grumbled, "Ever since this white-haired nuisance showed up we started becoming less and less emotionally stable. I don't know why, but I don't care, either. Maybe it's because of the new situation of having a med student, or her annoying attitude, or our two incredibly conflicting ways of dealing with her. It doesn't matter anyway. She's the common threat."

"Well, thanks for the clarification.", the black-haired woman noted, "But we've been talking about Weiss' vexatiousness for about three months now. But so far it had never caused you to voluntarily come to me and ask me for advice... in some kind of _emergency_ therapy session, on top of that. My first guess would be that something exceptional happened yesterday. Am I right?"

"N-nothing worth mentioning.", the young doctor responded and a faint blush crept to her cheeks.

"Ruby, be reasonable.", Blake sighed, "You're desperate enough to consult someone you don't even take seriously, you smell like a brewery, you've taken a day off just cause... and you're telling me that nothing out of the ordinary happened? Come on, I'm trying to help you figure this out. But I can't do anything if you won't open up and honestly tell me what's bothering you. As your therapist as well as your friend."

"As if it matters what happened in detail.", Ruby responded annoyedly, "I'm not the problem here. Weiss is the problem! And it's your and Yang's fault that I couldn't get rid of her so far. So you either help me dealing with her now or I'll handle things on my own again... and _my_ way! Nothing you've ever done had helped me so far. Every two weeks I'm sitting here, wasting my time and... urgh..."

Suddenly, the crimsonette went even paler than usual and clutched her head. Blake had seen it often enough already. Ruby was about to change personalities again... which could only mean that there was indeed something incredibly important going on in the younger girl's mind. If she could figure this one out, the black-haired woman was sure that they could make some significant progress. But she had to be careful... like always with Ruby...

After a couple of seconds, the crimson-haired girl had regained her composure. She still looked pretty pale... but that was probably due to her hangover.

"Hey, are you alright?", Blake asked sympathetically.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine.", Ruby responded and took a deep breath.

"So I guess that at least _you_ want to tell me what happened, am I right?", the psychiatrist noted with a friendly smile.

"Umm... I... think so.", the young doctor mumbled.

"It's okay, Ruby.", Blake reassured her, "You know that everything you say to me inside of this office will stay just between the two of us. And no matter how malicious, ridiculous, or embarrassing it might be... believe me: I've heard worse already. I want to help you, so just tell me what happened."

There was a moment of silence. Just like her other half, nice Ruby was afraid to tell the black-haired woman about her new, weird feelings for Weiss – but due to completely different reasons. She wanted to do everything right, after all, and that everybody liked her. So what if Blake would think she was weird... well, even weirder than she was already when she told her that she had a crush on her med student? A crush on another girl? And just because she had... in the on-call room... just one single time... She didn't want to make another one of her relationships more awkward than necessary.

But then again, the crimsonette knew that she had to say something... if only half-truths and vague statements, so the psychiatrist could help her and her other half with their problem at least a little... They needed some advice on how to handle the situation, after all.

"T-there was a pretty awkward moment between me 'n Weiss...", Ruby's nice version said quietly, "A-and a couple of others afterwards. And they were embarrassing... and now I don't know how to deal with her anymore."

Admittedly, it was only half the truth, but maybe Blake would've some useful advice for her anyway. The nice crimsonette and her other half had agreed on their _strategy_ before consulting the psychiatrist, after all. Of course, she couldn't tell the black-haired woman that she was having romantic feelings for her med student... as long as it was somehow possible to avoid it. This humiliation would have to wait until no other option was left.

Hopefully, Blake wouldn't...

"May I ask you what kind of _awkward_ _moment_ this was exactly?", the psychiatrist wanted to know.

Damn it...

'Okay, dipsh... _buddy_... You know as much as I do that you can't tell her about... _that_. Your first statement was a good one – not too explicit, but still somewhat useful for the headshrinker. Keep it up and we might get somewhere without making a complete idiot out of us. And not a single word about this fucked up dream, do you copy?!'

'I know... stop pestering me. I'm just as smart as you are: I remember the plan. But I don't have to be a dick to pull it through, do _you_ copy? Your yelling was already counterproductive enough... That's why I'm in control now, right?'

"Ruby? Do you want to tell me or not?", the black-haired woman asked again. The young doctor had been silent for about thirty seconds now without showing any kind of reaction. But the follow-up question seemed to have caught her attention again.

'Okay, now or never...'

"Umm... you see...", the crimsonette began hesitantly, "Yesterday, we were in the on-call room after an all-nighter I... well, my other half forced Weiss to do. And, umm, we had to share a bed because all the others were occupied. And then, we must've turned around pretty weirdly during the night because... umm... we woke up... c-cuddling. W-we didn't even mean to! It was an accident!"

"Umm... yeah, I get that.", Blake said and raised an eyebrow at her patient's overly firm clarification, "But... you mentioned other awkward encounters that happened after that. Do you want to tell me about them as well?"

"Well, obviously, I... _we_ wanted to sort this weird moment out by telling Weiss that it was an accident and that it meant nothing.", Ruby continued, "But since we're completely hopeless when it comes to social interaction, we just ended up saying a lot of stupid stuff and probably made everything worse. And now we have no idea how to face Weiss anymore. That... kinda sums up yesterday..."

"And that's all?", the psychiatrist asked, "There isn't anything else you want to add?"

"P-pretty much...", the young doctor lied and averted her gaze, "We already have a hard time dealing with Weiss because me 'n my other half are totally different, but now it's even more complicated because... of all this awkwardness."

"Ruby... you're losing your head over nothing.", Blake sighed with a comforting smile, "I know you have some problems with social interaction because of your condition... but I think the whole situation isn't even nowhere near as bad as you tell yourself. If it _really_ didn't mean anything to you and Weiss thinks the same, I'm pretty sure everything will level out on its own again. Just treat her like you've always done so far, maybe apologize again, and just continue being co-workers. Maybe even make a joke about it to show that you're cool with the embarrassing stuff that had happened and that you're over it. I'm sure Weiss will leave it behind pretty quickly as well and everything will, most certainly, return to normal after a couple of days."

"Y-you really think so?", Ruby asked, apparently not completely pleased with the psychiatrist's response.

"Well, now that you've told me the whole story, I'm pretty sure of it.", Blake reassured her friend... but then she raised an eyebrow, "Or... is there _still_ something you left out?"

At this question, Ruby started to chew at her bottom lip. Of course, she had left something out: She and Weiss accidentally getting a little more touchy-feely than she had mentioned, the fact that this memory was haunting her now, and, most importantly, the realization that she had liked it – that she... _they_ liked Weiss.

"N-nope. I've told you everything.", the young doctor lied again, even though she hated herself for doing so. But she had no other choice – her fucked up mind, as well as the girl she shared a conscience with, just wouldn't let her.

"Well, then. I hope I could be of help.", the psychiatrist finished, "If there isn't anything else... I think I should return to my paperwork. Geez, this is really annoying... Umm, don't tell Yang I've said that."

"Of course not.", the crimsonette giggled and stood up, "Oh, and thank you. I think I kinda know how to handle things with Weiss now."

"Anytime.", Blake responded and opened up her laptop again while her friend walked towards the door. However, the black-haired woman didn't start working again, at least not immediately. She somehow knew that this conversation wasn't over yet and, of course, her gut feeling was correct: The moment the young doctor's hand touched the door handle, the crimson-haired girl turned around again.

"A-and... umm... what if things don't return to normal?", Ruby asked hesitantly, "If... if this weird atmosphere between me and Weiss stays the same and she starts to hate me?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.", Blake responded with a comforting smile, "For now, don't beat yourself up about it too much and try to return to normalcy. It'll only get worse if you overthink everything... or if you're not completely honest with yourself."

"Y-yeah... you're right.", the crimsonette finally agreed, even though she hadn't seen that last part coming, "I-I guess if we treat Weiss normally again and stop trying to disimprove everything with our social awkwardness, things will probably sort themselves out on their own. We're just overreacting... Well, it _is_ the first time something like _that_ had happened. T-the cuddling, I meant. Nothing else."

"I'm glad I could help you.", the psychiatrist said conclusively, "If there's anything else you want my advice on, feel free to visit or call me. Enjoy your day off and recover from your hangover."

"Will do. Thanks again, Blake.", Ruby responded with a smile, "Bye... and tell Yang I said hello."

With these words, the young doctor was out of the door and pulled it shut behind her.

It was not until then that the psychiatrist allowed herself to let out a somewhat frustrated sigh. She was sure that what the young doctor – both versions of her – had told her right now was only the tip of the iceberg. But how should she worm their secret out of them without making everything worse? She had no idea.

The same old story...

* * *

'This _advice_ was pretty much useless.', Ruby's withdrawn half grumbled in their mind, 'She basically just told us to do nothing. I could've thought of that myself.'

'Well, it wasn't _completely_ useless.', the crimsonette's other half thought conciliatorily, 'Maybe Blake was right and we really just read too much into it. Maybe these weird feelings will go away after some time when we just ignore them and continue to do our thing. Aaand, in Blake's defense, we haven't even told her a quarter of the truth.'

'And we'll keep it that way. So let's just go with what the shrink told us: We're overthinking all of this. The dream with our mom has no deeper meaning, we mistook Weiss' boob for a stress ball in our sleep... a stress ball we needed because of her annoyingness, and we're having these weird thoughts and feelings just because we're not used to being near new people that frequently. If we tell ourselves all of this long enough and keep everything else in our life as normal as possible, the issue really might solve itself after some time. And if not...'

'Then we'll tell Blake everything?'

'Nope. Psychotropic drugs. If this won't work, a lobotomy, and, in case this won't do the trick either, suicide...'

'What?! Are you insane?!'

'Of course. We both are. Nevertheless, stop pissing our pants. I admit that the last part was a joke... mostly...'

'Urgh, I hate you, y'know...'

'Likewise. Anyway, let's go home. My headache is killing me.'

* * *

The psychiatrist's day went on without any further interruptions for hours, yet, Blake's usual routine had been completely thrown off. After the talk with both Rubies, she couldn't quite concentrate on her paperwork anymore. It was an additional session, so it wasn't completely useless... but since it was an _additional_ session, one that Ruby had wanted on her own, the psychiatrist was now hating herself for not getting more out of it. There was more to this weird Ruby-Weiss-encounter that had happened yesterday, Blake knew it... most certainly something groundbreaking... maybe even game-changing...

Admittedly, she knew by experience that being too forceful was counterproductive but she still was kinda dissatisfied with the way things had turned out.

On the other hand, if she would've persuaded Ruby into revealing the whole truth to her without minding the crimsonette's feelings and worries, it could've destroyed the whole progress from the day she had met Weiss – obviously, the white-haired girl had some kind of impact on her.

But then again, the psychiatrist was still wondering if she could've handled the situation a little differently... and if that would've helped Ruby a little more.

Nevertheless, forcing the young doctor to face whatever kind of feelings she was having before she was ready to do so...

Urgh... all of this was incredibly, unbelievably frustrating...

She could make Ruby feel better and more comfortable about her unique condition, she could react to the things the crimsonette told her and give her some advice... even help her to realize the true meaning behind her thoughts. But she had no idea how to go beyond that... how to elicit the most important thoughts and feelings from her, the key components, that what really mattered and what the girl kept to herself.

Whatever she tried, it wasn't of any use: The casual talking cure wouldn't do the trick, mirroring didn't work because both Rubies were smart enough to see through it, boldness would irritate one half, tactfulness the other... No matter what the psychiatrist pulled off, each time one version of Ruby would always raise difficulties in the end... two personalities, two contradicting, irreconcilable approaches... There wasn't a _correct_ way possible...

Ruby Rose: an eighteen-year-old prodigy, her brain a complete mystery to every science that had anything to do with the human mind. Unfathomable because of her disorder's complexity, untrickable because of her incredible intelligence, unyielding because of her fears and refusals. Nothing could crack the crimsonette's code.

Maybe Blake wasn't the right person to treat her in the first place... maybe it was time to shelve Ruby's... or, to be more precise, both Rubies' files away and commit her to the care of someone who could actually help her.

Suddenly, the psychiatrist was startled by another knock on her door. What the hell was going on today? It was highly unlikely that Ruby had come back – everything had been said, at least that was what Blake thought. Maybe Yang had gotten whiff of her disturbance and was playing a prank on her now. Something along the lines of printing out a flyer that said: "Open day in Dr. Belladonna's office". The blonde was probably capable of doing this just to annoy her.

"Come in...", the black-haired woman sighed. This way, she would never be able to finish her paperwork. However, she would've never believed what happened next if she wouldn't see it with her own eyes. The door opened only slightly, carefully... and a snow-white ponytail appeared!

"Umm... e-excuse me, Doctor Belladonna...", a meek voice addressed her.

"I thought I've told you to just call me Blake.", the psychiatrist responded with a smile, "What's the matter?"

Looks like this day was about to get even more... interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand both Rubies still deny their feelings. Who would've guessed it? But then again, there's nooo waaay this is going to backfire in the end, isn't it^^. At least they are finally working together on something, even though it is something stupid. That's at least a little step in the right direction, right?
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to more. Next up is this whole, weird incident out of Weiss' perspective – and it's going to be hilarious, that's for sure. Leave a comment and stay tuned for the next chapter!


	14. Those Haunting Silver Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, as promised, here is the whole incident and the following events from Weiss' perspective. Maybe the white-haired girl had experienced everything a little differently... maybe not. Only one way to find out, am I right?
> 
> By the way, and in case you wonder, the dialogue in the first part is exactly the same as in chapter 12, but the descriptions and stuff are somewhat (or sometimes completely) different, since it's Weiss POV. Therefore, still worth reading. But I hope you understand that I can't change the speech of things that had already happened.
> 
> Anyway... enjoy the new chapter, fellas!

'If the owner of this annoying, beeping Scroll doesn't silence their device in the next ten seconds, I swear to every higher power there is: I'll shove it up a place of theirs where it won't get the necessary sunlight to recharge itself.'

Waking up right now was the last thing on Weiss' mind. For the first time in forever, she felt completely at ease. This was, without a doubt, the most relaxing rest she ever had in her entire life... and she didn't want it to end yet. There were so many enjoyable things she felt at the moment: The sweet, flowery smell of strawberries and roses filled her nostrils, she noticed a warmth that was way too soothing to come from the blanket alone, she was holding onto something incredibly smooth and soft... and there was a foreign hand that was _caressing_ her body, specific parts, to be more precise... but not in a molesting way. No. It felt... gentle, caring, loving... Nobody had ever touched her like that so far... must be a dream.

"Mmm... that feels nice.", came a purr.

"It does...", Weiss replied without even thinking about it. She still wasn't really sure if she had said it out loud or just thought it. It didn't matter anyway. She just wanted to bask in this embrace a little longer – imaginary or not.

Unfortunately, her consciousness quickly overran her... Med student, attending physician, the BGH, Ruby... Rubies... Suddenly, she remembered everything: The all-nighter, the on-call room... her bedmate!

Weiss' eyes immediately shot open and her gaze was met with two similarly confused looking silver ones. But... there was something underneath. The white-haired girl couldn't quite place it. Vulnerability? Fear? Expectation... A plea for reassurance... A plea for not being left alone anymore... A plea for uncountable things one could only understand if they had been through a lot of terrible stuff in their life.

These silver orbs reflected everything Weiss had felt herself a thousand times already... and was still feeling sometimes... often... frequently. She had never seen something like that in another person's eyes. And... weren't their hearts beating in sync? As if they were trying to reach out to each other? It was a moment the med student knew she would never forget.

But then again, it only lasted for so long. The two girls quickly realized who the other person was – lying so close to them that their noses almost touched. In a matter of a second, the spell was broken.

"EEEEP!!!", Weiss winced and backed away, hitting her head on the wall behind her. Ruby herself fell out of the other side of the bed shortly after, yelling a barely audible curse.

The white-haired girl needed a moment to regain her composure and to process everything that had just happened: She had woken up snuggled up to her attending physician, they were touching each other in quite inappropriate areas... and she was enjoying it?! This couldn't be! How the hell did this happen?! And why?!

"What do you think you were doing?!", Ruby asked completely flabbergasted the moment she had picked herself up again.

"What _I_ was doing?!", Weiss quickly shot back, " _You_ have been the one who snuggled up to me and touched my... m-my... T-this was your fault!"

"I didn't do shit, jackass!", came the response... and Weiss immediately recognized which version of her attending physician was in charge right now – which most certainly would make everything worse.

"I didn't do anything, either!", the med student tried to justify herself. It was the truth, after all. Okay, technically she had done _something_ , but she had been asleep. She didn't want to. Or, at least she was sure she didn't want to... consciously, that is.

"What a way to start the day...", an annoyed, somewhat muffled grumble echoed through the on-call room, Yang's voice, the white-haired girl quickly noticed, "I really don't care what had happened between you two, but if you pleeeaaase keep the noise down, that would be great. Geez..."

Weiss wanted to apologize to the blonde but was quickly interrupted by Ruby, who stammered hastily: "Okay, okay, okay. Look, we were both asleep. It was just a stupid accident. I guess, no one's to blame."

The white-haired girl was pretty sure she had misheard that. _No one's to blame?_ Had this awkward incident given her attending physician's mean version a stroke?

"L-listen here, Ice Queen.", the young doctor added, "I'm off to get some shit done now and the moment the door falls shut behind me, this creepy incident never happened."

"O-of course.", Weiss managed to croak out. Her cheeks still felt like they were on fire.

"Alright. I'll see you at one. Until then... g-go and be bothersome somewhere else.", Ruby finished so fast the three sentences sounded like one word... well, except for the parts where she was stammering. After that, the young doctor straightened her clothes with a few pats that were almost on par with vexed slaps (or punches) and, barely five seconds later, she was already out of the room.

Weiss was still half-lying, half-sitting on the bed and gazed after her attending physician confusedly. Her heart was beating rapidly and there was a queasy feeling in her stomach. The temperature of her cheeks ranged somewhere between a stove plate and the glow wire of a powered lightbulb. What in all of Remnant's sake had just happened?! And why was she still having these weird, unplaceable feelings? She should be embarrassed, ashamed, and maybe a little bit disgusted with herself.

Okay, she was... no doubt about that... but there was still something that lingered underneath these emotions. Something she had neither an idea _what_ nor _why_ she felt it... or, to be more precise, _still_ felt it. Something incredibly weird... yet, not unpleasant... even though she outright hated unknown and unexplainable things.

What could that mean? She had no idea.

From that point on, the day went downhill...

* * *

The lectures, usually her favorite part of the day, were the absolute horror. Weiss couldn't concentrate, no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't take notes properly, she messed up the most simple questions, damn, she even had no idea what organ they were talking about! Chronic kidney disease? What was a kidney again? And what did it do? Pump blood, transfer oxygen, filter toxins? Was it vestigial? There were a few things the human body didn't need, after all. Kidney... she had heard this word before, she was sure of it. But she couldn't remember... There was only one thing on her mind...

Those haunting silver eyes.

The cafeteria... a shredded chicken salad... people talking to her, not that she could remember a single syllable, or who was trying to address her... a changing room... dark blue scrubs... a corridor... a counter... the ICU's nurses' station. Final destination...

Weiss had no idea what would await her here. What would Ruby say to her? Would the crimsonette pretend that nothing happened? Maybe she would even apologize for accidentally groping her. Or maybe she had changed her mind and would yell at her again.

However, she wasn't prepared for what really happened: It kinda was a combination of all of the above, but then again, it was neither one thing nor another. More like an unpleasant stammering from both sides:

The first Ruby, the nice one, tried to apologize for all the insults her other half had made in the on-call room this morning. However, she quickly made their conversation awkward again by mentioning the whole, embarrassing incident... and choosing incredibly embarrassing words to do so. The mean version of the crimsonette, whom the med student _met_ half an hour later, handled the situation a little different: She appeared to be her usual, harsh, yet down-to-earth self and managed to sort everything out, even though she used a lot of insults and contemptuous phrases while doing so. However, just as everything seemed to be normal between the two of them again, Ruby's tongue slipped once more and the whole situation got even more awkward...

Weiss, for her part, tried to be polite and professional during these two encounters... but that was easier said than done. Every time they had made some progress in resolving the awkwardness between them, her attending physician said something that caught the white-haired girl completely off guard. The result was always some flustered stuttering on her part and Ruby cutting off their conversation and fleeing shortly after.

Not that the med student minded this. She wouldn't have been able to continue talking to her anyway. The moment these awkward things slipped out of the crimsonette's mouth, Weiss' mind went almost completely blank... besides one thing, well, two things...

Those haunting silver eyes.

Needless to say, her work performance was incredibly miserable this day. She couldn't focus properly on her tasks and a lot of things slipped her mind... fortunately, nothing that concerned a patient's life, but still... She forgot to take her clipboards with the charts and results she had to get for attending physician with her, she didn't hand in all of the prescriptions at the pharmacy, and so on... Why the hell was she so absentminded today?!

After the two awkward encounters with Ruby, the white-haired girl was told to pick up her tasks in form of notes at the ICU's nurses' station again. However, there was something she soon started to wonder about. There were a lot of notes... and most of them contained just one job. That begged one question: Why was this the case? Had Ruby forgotten to write down everything she wanted her to do and had to add it afterwards... in form of a blizzard of hastily scribbled post-it notes? Could Ruby even forget something? Again, the moment Weiss thought of the crimson-haired girl, a certain picture reappeared in her mind...

Those haunting silver eyes.

This awful workday went on for what felt like an eternity but, eventually, it came to an end. The white-haired girl got the information that she was free to go from Yang – Ruby was still nowhere to be found. But maybe that was for the better at the moment. Weiss still hadn't come up with a plan on how to deal with her attending physician(s) from now on...

She couldn't remember the last time she had clocked out, changed, and rushed to her dorm room that fast... or anywhere near as fast, to be more precise. Of course, there had been other times she wanted to get away from the crimson-haired girl as quick as possible... but today was different. Another one of these incredibly awkward moments and the med student would probably die of embarrassment.

At home, she immediately started to distract herself to forget about this horrible day. At first, she tried to study to make up for everything she had missed during the lectures. However, her concentration was still virtually zero, so she put away her textbooks barely half an hour later. Maybe she should try and watch some of the series Jaune and Pyrrha had recommended. There wasn't anything better to empty one's mind than watching stupid and bland sitcoms, right? Unfortunately, she had to drop this idea quickly as well: while it seemed to work at first, Weiss soon realized that every time she saw a young woman with choppy, black hair or one wearing something red, it immediately reminded her of Ruby... and the on-call room. No matter what the white-haired girl did, a certain picture never left her mind...

Those haunting silver eyes.

As early as 8 o'clock, Weiss decided that it was probably the best to go to sleep. She couldn't concentrate on anything at the moment anyway. Maybe these weird thoughts would stop tormenting her tomorrow. She needed a fresh start. Unfortunately, the white-haired med student wasn't able to fall asleep. She was still pretty flustered and confused, after all, and it was still incredibly early.

Well, she knew that there was something that would help her fall asleep easier – she was an adult, after all. But then again, doing _this_ right now, with Ruby ever-present in her mind, was just... unthinkable! Her hand unconsciously wandered to her right breast... the place where the crimsonette had touched her this morning. Weiss immediately felt an incredible heat pool in her stomach... and... other areas. Terrified, the white-haired girl immediately withdrew her hand again! This couldn't be true...

Eventually, Weiss managed to fall asleep, but it was an uneasy rest. An incredibly uneasy rest. The most uneasy rest she ever had in her entire life. She woke up at least five times during the night, always because of some weird dreams and subconscious thoughts she was having. It was only 4 o'clock when the white-haired girl decided that it was useless to go back to sleep again, therefore, she stood up and got ready for the day.

But even though she usually couldn't remember a single thing she had dreamt of, there was something she did recall this time...

Those haunting silver eyes.

* * *

The lectures this day were almost as worse as the last ones. Even though it had been more than twenty-four hours since the awkward incident she had shared with Ruby had happened, Weiss still couldn't concentrate on anything. Luckily, the med student was prepared this time – she had already expected that something like that would happen again – and had brought a dictaphone with her to record everything. That way, she could rework whatever she would miss out... and, just like the last time, there was a lot.

Admittedly, it wasn't _that_ bad – Weiss still remembered most organs of the human body and their purpose. Nevertheless, she was still far (very far) from her usual peak form. Also, the notes she took still didn't make sense from time to time. Oh, and there was that one time when she almost addressed Professor Port as Professor _Rose_. Only because she couldn't get this one, damned picture out of her head.

Those haunting silver eyes.

During lunchtime, Weiss got a message on her pager... strangely enough from Doctor Oobleck. It said that she would shadow him today instead of Ruby because the crimson-haired girl had asked to take a day off last-minute. This made the med student wonder: She had already heard that the young prodigy hated going on vacation. So why was Doctor Rose taking a day off now? Had it something to do with what had happened yesterday? Had it something to do with her? Weiss had no idea... but she already knew that all of these questions would bother her the whole day.

Shadowing Doctor Oobleck was actually pretty interesting – even though the white-haired girl only understood every third word from him due to his inhumanly fast speaking tempo. Luckily, she could always ask Jaune (who was Oobleck's usual med student) if she couldn't follow. The blonde boy was already used to it, after all, and was able to either follow his attending physician or to extrapolate from half-comprehended sentences.

But then again, trying to follow the green-haired doctor's ramblings was the only thing that challenged the white-haired girl this day. All the tasks Oobleck asked her to do were pretty much utterly simple stuff. Additionally, there was barely anything to do – at least it seemed that way to Weiss. When shadowing Doctor Rose, she had to do about ten things simultaneously, and not just getting meds or charts. But now...

Apparently, the work day she was experiencing at the moment was the way a normal attending physician treated their med student... and it bored the white-haired girl to death. She wanted, no... _needed_ a real challenge, way too difficult tasks, barely possible deadlines, and, after she still managed to get everything done in time, either overenthusiastic compliments from some kind of bestie or reluctant, yet honest respect from a gruff mentor. Weiss had barely finished thinking about all of this and two things reappeared in her mind...

Those haunting silver eyes.

The white-haired girl didn't know why, but Doctor Oobleck let her and Jaune clock out about an hour earlier than usual. Apparently, there wasn't enough to do for two med students today, even though the green-haired physician had to take care not only of his own but of Ruby's patients, too. But then again, Weiss didn't mind it that much – there was still too much other stuff on her mind, after all. Well, not exactly _too much_ , but one picture that won't stop bothering her.

She quickly went to the locker room and got changed again. She needed to get out of this hospital as fast as possible. There was just too much that reminded her of Ruby. These weird thoughts hadn't stopped haunting her the whole day, unlike she had hoped yesterday. Maybe it had to do something with her surroundings.

On the other hand...

Weiss was almost out of the door before she came to an abrupt halt. For some reason, she suddenly doubted that everything would be fine again once she was back in her dorm room. Ruby hadn't left her mind there yesterday as well, after all. No... if anything, being alone had only made it worse. To the point she almost... at night... to the thought of...

The white-haired girl's cheeks suddenly felt like they were on fire again. She quickly shook the indecent thoughts out of her head. Damn it – This couldn't go on like that! She needed to deal with these thoughts somehow instead of just ignoring them. Maybe then she could come to terms with her feelings and, hopefully, dismiss them.

However, Weiss knew that she was terrible at dealing with her emotions. In her childhood, she was inculcated with the idea that feelings (at least most of them) were just a weakness and the best way to handle them was to simply ignore them. And even though the white-haired girl soon had come to realize that this wasn't necessarily true, there had been nobody who could've taught her how to properly deal with them. She had been alone most of her childhood, after all.

The med student knew she couldn't figure out whatever these constant thoughts of Ruby meant by herself. She needed someone to talk with. But who? Jaune and Pyrrha? Nope. While they were her friends, they barely knew the crimson-haired doctor. Ren and Nora? Not a much better choice, either. While they most certainly knew Ruby pretty good, Weiss wasn't very close to them.

Yang? Admittedly, she was definitely the person Weiss was closest to in this hospital and there was probably no one who knew Ruby better than the blonde. But then again, it kinda sounded like a bad idea to tell the crimsonette's overprotective sister that she was having weird, obsessive, and even somewhat sexual thoughts about the younger girl... or that they had a slightly intimate encounter in the on-call room.

Wait... what about Blake? Hadn't the black-haired woman told her that she could come to her anytime to ask for advice a couple of weeks ago? That Weiss could tell her about stuff that was bothering her and that she couldn't tell anybody else? The white-haired girl's memory might not be as perfect as Ruby's, but she was sure the psychiatrist had said something along those lines.

For a moment, the med student felt incredibly stupid. Why hadn't she thought about that sooner? Blake most likely knew Ruby almost as good as Yang, she was impartial, professional, and, most importantly, she would keep their conversation a secret if Weiss asked her to do so. Also, the black-haired woman would probably provide the best advice on how to deal with these awkward thoughts and emotions.

With this in mind, the white-haired girl turned around again and made her way to Dr. Belladonna's office.

* * *

It still felt kind of surreal to Weiss. She was really sitting here... in front of a psychiatrist... and not because of her messed up childhood but because of some incredibly weird feelings for her attending physician. The white-haired girl had always guessed that, if she would ever need a therapy, it would be because of her abusive father, her alcoholic and uncaring mother, and the crippling loneliness when she had been little.

But no: she was here because she had unexplainable feelings for Ruby.

Wait! This wasn't a therapy session. This was just asking a friend for advice... and it was just a coincidence that this friend was a psychiatrist. Furthermore, this coincidence wasn't the reason that Weiss was consulting Blake and not one of her other acquaintances. It was only logical to ask _her_ what to do. Advice, no therapy. At least the med student told herself that much...

"Well, then.", Blake suddenly shook the white-haired girl out of her thoughts, "Fire away! What's on your mind?"

It was now that Weiss realized that she had no idea how to approach such a delicate topic. After she had made the decision to talk about everything, she had gone straight to the psychiatrist's office... without coming up with some kind of plan. Just dropping the bomb was, most certainly, a bad idea – considering how embarrassing the whole situation was. No, she needed to tell the black-haired woman bit by bit and approach the worst parts of yesterday carefully.

"Umm... I-I want to talk about... Rub... D-doctor Rose.", the med student answered shyly, trying not to blush while doing so.

"I already kind of assumed that.", Blake responded with a friendly smile, "This girl can really be a handful and a half sometimes. What did she do this time?" Of course, the psychiatrist already knew, but then again, she couldn't tell the white-haired girl. Additionally, maybe it was helpful to hear the whole story from Weiss' point of view. After all, she knew that Ruby hadn't told her the whole truth a few hours ago.

"Y-you see...", the med student began slowly, "As you probably know, two days ago, there was a terrible accident and Doctor Rose and I had to pull an all-nighter. And... after I was finished with my part, I decided to sleep in the on-call room."

"How come?", the psychiatrist asked nonchalantly, "The dorms aren't _that_ far away..." The more casual she would treat this conversation, the likelier Weiss would open up to her.

"I was pretty exhausted.", the white-haired girl explained, "I was running around the hospital like crazy... and way longer than I should."

"Then why haven't you clocked out when your shift was over?", Blake asked, "You have every right to do so. As a student, you have a lot of other responsibilities to attend to, after all. Lectures, for example."

"That would've been pretty unfair towards my colleagues.", Weiss said, "The other students were staying longer as well."

"That's right... about an hour or two.", the psychiatrist mentioned (well informed as always), "But you decided to stay until the very end. Why?"

"Because there were lives that had to be saved.", the med student explained, "How could I leave with so many people still suffering?"

"An honorable reason, I have to admit. But you're only a med student.", Blake noted, "It isn't in your scope of duties to stay overnight to help out on an accident... an accident you can barely help out on anyway since you lack most of the qualifications to do so."

Weiss immediately remembered all the things the crimsonette had made her do, even though it was pretty much illegal. Why the hell had she done all of them? She had risked her whole medical career... again! But then again, it was her attending physician that had demanded her to break the rules.

"But Ru... Doctor Rose was counting on me.", Weiss stated matter-of-factly (she knew she couldn't tell Blake about the more or less illegal stuff), "Well, kind of... I mean, she asked me... well, more like _wanted_ me to pull through. So I did."

"So you wanted to show her?", the black-haired woman asked.

"Can you blame me?", the white-haired girl sighed, "After all the insults, the many statements that I'm still a burden and whatnot... and maybe even the encouragements of her other half... I just _had_ to. It may sound stupid but backing out didn't seem like an option to me."

"Yeah... I can understand that. And it doesn't sound stupid in the slightest.", the psychiatrist said with a reassuring smile, "But we went off track. Pardon my curiosity. What happened next?"

"Well, as I have already mentioned...", Weiss continued, "I went to the on-call room to get some rest. I had lectures to attend the next day, after all. There was only one unoccupied bed left, so I took it. And after a couple of minutes or so, I can't recall anymore... Doctor Rose came in."

"Was she still hostile towards you?", Blake asked with faked curiosity. Again, she wasn't allowed to mention that she knew the corner points of their encounter already.

"Kinda... but that's not the point.", the med student said and a faint blush crept to her cheeks, "She insisted on us sharing the bed since I was the smallest occupant."

"Sharing the bed with the enemy, it seems.", the black-haired woman responded with a grin and upon Weiss' confused (and embarrassed) look, she added conciliatorily, "What? I thought this is just a conversation between friends. If you want professionalism, say so." Of course, this demand was just part of the psychiatrist's plan to make the white-haired girl feel comfortable, so she would open up. And it worked wonders.

"N-no. It's alright.", Weiss hastily exclaimed and faked a chuckle, "I just want to talk to you and some advice on dealing with Ruby, that's all. I guess I can still live on without professional help for about _two_ more weeks under her thumb." The last part was obviously a joke to lighten up the mood... and to conceal the fact that their conversation was indeed something somewhat similar to a therapy session.

"And here I thought I could make some money...", Blake played along, "But enough with the jokes for now. I can only guess what's bothering you unless you tell me the whole story."

"Right.", the med student said, "Well, you see... the next part is a little embarrassing... or _very_ embarrassing..."

"I would point out that I'm a psychiatrist and that I've already heard countless of embarrassing stories...", the black-haired woman began, "But then again, I'm pretty sure that Yang could outmatch any of them. And she's... well, _sane_ is a pretty strong word. Nevertheless, you get what I'm trying to say, right? Just tell me, I've heard... and witnessed worse... believe me."

"Alright, but... please promise me not to tell anybody.", Weiss demanded, "As my friend, of course."

'Okay, now it kind of gets a little too obvious...', Blake sighed inwardly, yet, she responded politely, "Of course. I would never rat on my friends. And again, Yang would be my best example."

"Alright, then...", the med student said and took a deep breath, "Ruby and I had to share a bed that night... And, well... we woke up... kinda... h-hugging each other... c-closely."

"Okay... that _is_ kind of embarrassing... considering your past, especially with her mean half.", the psychiatrist mentioned, "But I still don't know what kind of advice you want from me."

"I have no idea how to deal with her from now on because of this awkward moment.", Weiss explained, "Even worse, she tried to sort it out yesterday, but everything she said made the whole situation even weirder... it almost sounded like she... okay, now that _really_ sounds stupid..."

"Go on.", Blake requested, "You mention people doing something stupid, I mention Yang again. Wow... it's almost frightening how many times this fits. I should try this strategy on my patients sometime. Umm... anyway, please don't tell her I've said that... and everything else." She let out a small giggle at the end of her statement... of course, saying all of this was just part of her plan.

"Anyway, tell me... if you want to, of course.", the black-haired woman finally concluded her little speech.

"You see...", the med student began, "I'm pretty sure Ru... D-doctor Rose wanted to make everything less awkward, but whenever we kinda agreed on that it didn't mean anything because it was just a stupid accident, she said something that... I don't know... hinted that it... well..."

"Meant something, nonetheless?", Blake completed her friend's stammering.

"I know it sounds weird but... it just... seemed like it to me.", Weiss explained, "She was hinting that she wasn't... _that_ irritated by everything. As if she... as if it wasn't _that_ unpleasant for her as it was for me. Like... she didn't... dislike it, or something."

"Okay... I really don't want this talk to sound like a therapy session... but I really need to ask you this lame, probably incredibly overused question.", the black-haired woman admitted, "How do you... okay, I really can't say it with a straight face. But what do _you_ think about all of this? Damn, that still sounded way too stereotypical. Pretend I've asked you about that without this professional overtone and, umm, just tell me what's on your mind."

Of course, and again, Blake only pretended to be insecure about her wording so this would seem like a normal conversation. She was now, more than ever, pretty much sure that she could somehow understand what Ruby was trying to tell her earlier way better with the input from the white-haired girl. They had experienced the same story, after all, but differently, nonetheless. Admittedly, she knew that Weiss' point of view was probably pretty biased as well, but maybe it would fill at least a few important gaps. And even though Blake felt a little bad about _using_ Weiss to gather more information about Ruby's _emergency_ therapy session, maybe she could help both of them if she would decipher this weird incident and everything that caused both girls' irritation.

"I actually don't know how to answer your question...", the white-haired girl admitted, "I'm not very good at dealing with my emotions... I-I mean, it's not that I enjoyed what had happened in the on-call room. It's just that I just can't forget about it... or at least leave it behind. This moment is haunting me and it's driving me crazy. I have no idea if it's just because everything between us is incredibly awkward now and I don't know how to handle Ruby anymore... or because of... s-something else."

The last part was barely audible... but since the office wasn't exactly big and the psychiatrist could hear like a cat (even though she hated Yang for using this comparison that one time), Blake heard it anyway. And Weiss knew that as well.

Therefore, the moment she realized what she just had said, the white-haired girl was taken aback. What in all of Remnant's sake was she telling her psychia... friend! Her friend! Nevertheless, had she just told Blake that she was at least _thinking_ about having a crush on Ruby?! No, this last statement was way too vague to hint that... wasn't it?

Fortunately, the black-haired woman didn't dwell any further upon this matter.

Instead, she continued casually: "It's okay to feel insecure or embarrassed when something we can't quite place happens... We all do. An example: You may have already noticed that Yang makes a lot of jokes about me being pretty... cat-like. And at the last Christmas party, I was a little drunk, she petted my head and I literally _purred_. Can you imagine how embarrassed I was the next few days? And what annoying jokes I had to endure? But believe me, things like these pass sooner or later."

Blake considered that it was probably the best to show the white-haired girl a little sympathy for now – she obviously was incredibly uncomfortable about the whole incident and her weird feelings. Admittedly, the things Weiss had told her so far were less useful than she had hoped, but then again, the med student seemed to be about as ruffled as the crimson-haired doctor, maybe even more so. At least the psychiatrist now knew that whatever was going on between the two, it was mutual... and that was progress, after all.

However, she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

"Is that some kind of mirroring strategy?", Weiss asked confused, "I thought this was just a talk, not a therapy session."

Suddenly, it was Blake's turn to be taken aback. They didn't know each other that well, so how was the white-haired girl able to figure that out so quickly? She really was as smart as the crimsonette. If the black-haired woman would believe in something like fate or destiny, she would've thought that it was meant to be that Weiss and Ruby had met.

But then again, the weirdest thing about it was that Blake barely even meant to use this tactic. It just happened unintentionally – maybe because she was a psychiatrist for so long now. Yet, Weiss had noticed immediately... unlike herself, on top of that!

"Umm, well... maybe.", the black-haired woman admitted with a peaceable smile, "But I can promise you that I didn't mean to. Sometimes, I just can't turn off this psychiatrist thing and it just happens. When you graduate, maybe even sooner, you'll most certainly have the same problem – almost everyone does. Anyway, how do you know?" A good save, and a good distraction...

"Ever since I decided to become a doctor, I read a lot of stuff about almost every medical discipline and absorbed every bit of knowledge I could find like a sponge. That included a bit of psychology as well.", Weiss explained, "Unfortunately, my studies were pretty time-consuming and I completely neglected any kind of social interaction and my emotional development... which ultimately led me to your office today." The last part was spoken with a small, embarrassed, yet sympathetic chuckle.

'She really _is_ like Ruby.', Blake thought astonished, 'Ozpin would've never entrusted a med student to her care if it wouldn't have been someone like Weiss.'

"That's pretty impressive, nonetheless.", the psychiatrist quickly responded, "I guess if anybody could hold a candle to Doctor Rose sometime, it's going to be you. But back to the matter at hand. You still want some advice on how to deal with her from now on, am I right?"

"O-of course!", Weiss almost yelled, "I... just want things between us to return back to normal, after all."

"Well, you see...", Blake said and groaned inwardly because she had to tell the crimsonette the same thing a couple of hours ago, kind of admitting defeat, at least for now, "At the moment, you really think too much into it. Everything you're worried about right now is just speculation. You even aren't completely aware of what exactly happened and what it meant to you, are you?"

"Umm... yeah.", the med student half-admitted... and half-lied...

"Then, the only thing I can tell you is that overthinking everything won't do any good.", the psychiatrist continued, "You might have weird, unforgettable thoughts... but these could mean anything right now. From, and I apologize for being so forthright, outright hatred to pure admiration. All you can do at the moment is doing your thing and try to figure it out for yourself, I can't exactly help you with that. Go with the flow, y'know... That way, these weird thoughts and feelings will either become a little clearer if they mean anything bigger... or vanish completely otherwise. Does this make any sense?"

"I... guess...", Weiss pondered.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything a little more useful.", Blake apologized, "But I hope this conversation was at least a little bit progressive."

"Absolutely.", the white-haired girl quickly responded, "And... I'm sorry I wasted your time. I know you have a lot to do."

"For my friends, anytime.", the black-haired woman said, "I'm glad I could be of help... even if it wasn't much. Unless there's anything else you want to tell me, that is..."

There was a little bit of hope lingering in her last statement. Maybe she could still get a few more information out of the med student. For some, weird reason, Blake was (again) pretty sure there was still more to the story. She had a couple of speculations already, yet, she had to at least hear it from either Ruby or Weiss... to be sure, so she won't mess anything up.

Unfortunately, her hopes were crushed pretty quickly – but then again, the psychiatrist knew better than to force anything.

"No, that's all... And you really helped me.", Weiss explained, "I mean, you're absolutely right... I'm just overthinking things because of _one_ , somewhat awkward episode and two conversations afterwards. It's just that this whole dealing-with-people-that-closely thing is really new to me."

"Well then, let's conclude this with the admission that I'm an awesome advice-giver.", Blake noted with a small giggle, "But to be fair, I have my fair share of experience. Nevertheless, the next time you come to my office during work hours, I'll charge you big time..."

Upon seeing the white-haired girl's confused look, the black-haired woman added: "Just kidding. But, instead of coming to my office if you just want to talk, just give me a call. It'll seem less... _serious_... that way as well... and I can use up all my psychiatrist-phrases without sounding weird."

"Thank you.", the white-haired girl responded politely, "I'm really glad that I can talk with someone about all of this weird stuff. Someone who isn't Yang... y'know... she can be a little..."

" _Insane_ if it's something regarding her sister?", Blake finished Weiss' sentence, "I feel you. There were already a couple of times when I was a little... bold while talking about Ruby with her and I'm pretty sure she was about to rip me in half."

"That's exactly what I meant.", the med student said with a smile, "Well, I think I should get going now and leave you to your duties. I have a lot of stuff to catch up with as well. My concentration on my studies these last days was a little... pathetic, to say at least."

"Then you should probably review the last lectures.", the psychiatrist suggested, "You don't want to disappoint Doctor Rose, do you? I mean, not after all the progress you made with her, compared to your first couple of weeks."

"Yeah, you're right.", Weiss agreed and stood up again, "The last thing I want is her trying to get rid of me again. I, umm, see you around, I guess."

"Sure thing. Have fun studying, but don't overdo it.", Blake bid goodbye to the med student. A few seconds later, Weiss was out of the door... and again, the psychiatrist let out a sigh.

* * *

'Blake is right. I'm just overthinking everything.', the white-haired girl told herself inwardly as she made her way through the corridors of the hospital, 'I should just carry on as usual until I've come to terms with these weird feelings. And that's something only I can do.

But then again, I haven't told Blake the _whole_ truth. I just... couldn't. It's too embarrassing.

Okay, I need to be honest with myself... Could it really be that I have... romantic feelings for Ruby? As small as they might be. I mean, I have hugged people before... a few... but it had never felt like... THIS. Additionally, I have to admit that there are a lot of similarities between us: We're both extremely intelligent, pretty ambitious, we both had pretty shitty childhoods, for different reasons, but still...

Maybe I just want to spend time with her and live up to her expectations because I think I have finally found somebody who can understand me and my struggles. And I'm confusing this wish for a friend with thinking I'm having a crush on Ruby. That sounds logical, right?

On the other hand, the way she had touched me in the on-call room... even though it was just an accident... the warmth and comfort... and those eyes...

Those haunting silver eyes...

No, this can't be true! I mean, it's not because Ruby is a girl as well, I don't share my parents' outdated worldviews, after all... but because she's my boss. She's my attending physician at the moment... and will be for more than twenty months. Are we even allowed to date _if_ I should have romantic feelings for her... and she feels the same, which is highly unlikely anyway...

Also, Ruby is basically two people. Is it even possible to have a crush on two people simultaneously? Well, probably, but has something like this ever ended well? Furthermore, both of her personalities share the same body, so the whole situation would get even more awkward if we were to...

Wait! Why the hell do I already think about how it would be to be a couple with her. I'm not even sure if I really like her _that way_ at the moment. Okay, let's just say I have feelings of a romantic nature for my attending physician... for which one? Both have their good and their bad aspects, after all. I mean, I can't really be that stupid to fall for some weird kind of idealized version of her that only consists of her best traits and completely disregards the negative quirks. I'm not that delusional... or am I?

Urgh... why is everything so frustrating right now?! Why the FUCK haven't I slept in my dorm room that night?!'

Weiss quickly came to the conclusion that it was of no use to rack her brain about... whatever it was she was thinking about now. Maybe it really was better to just _go with the flow_ , as Blake had put it. Maybe things would return to normal on their own after a couple of days... or weeks. Maybe she and Ruby just needed a little more time to leave everything behind.

However, in the back of her mind, a small voice told her that believing this was just as stupid as not telling Blake the whole truth when she had the chance.

* * *

In her office, the psychiatrist's usual routine had been (once more) completely thrown off. She was, again, a little annoyed with the fact that she hadn't found out more. But then again, it wasn't like talking with Weiss had been completely useless. At least she knew that the white-haired girl was having the same, weird feelings... just like Ruby.

Could it really be that the med student was _romantically_ interested in the crimsonette? At least a little? It had definitely sounded like it. Additionally, Ruby had said (more like stammered) something that hinted that she was reciprocating these feelings. Could this be the catalyst the black-haired woman had waited for so long? As weird as all of that sounded at the moment?

Maybe Ruby not only needed someone who could understand her but someone who loved her and whom she could love as well. Not like her mother had loved her, but some kind of substitute love... A testimony that she could fully trust somebody and show herself vulnerable, so to speak. Someone she could share her insecurities with on a way more emotional level than any therapy session could duplicate.

To Blake, everything right now just felt like having to change a tire with the finish line (or at least a checkpoint) in sight. But then again, she had to be patient and shouldn't force anything. There was definitely something bigger going on between her most complicated client and the white-haired med student.

She was absolutely sure of that now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's the latest events from the other useless lesbian's point of view^^. I guess Weiss didn't do herself a favor by not telling Blake the whole truth. Now she and Ruby have to congregate again without having made much progress. Okay, both of them know how they feel but, despite being incredibly intelligent, won't admit it to themselves... and much less to each other. Let's see how things are going to develop.
> 
> Anyway, please leave a comment and let me know what you think of this chapter. I know that there were a few things that repeated themselves and I hope all the narration in the middle wasn't too boring... But, as said before, I can't change things that had already happened. Nevertheless, I still want to believe you could enjoy the chapter and will stay tuned for the next one. See ya there, and have a nice day!


	15. Rose-Red and Snow-White in Sync

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys and gals! I hope you had/are having happy holidays! Mine is pretty good so far.
> 
> By the way, I have a little Nondescript Winter Holidays present for you: Another chapter (who would've guessed it?^^). Ruby and Weiss finally meet each other again after their respective therapy sessions. Let's see how they will handle everything from now on: Will they manage to properly work together again? Or is it going to be a disaster?
> 
> Time to find out! Enjoy!

The next day, Ruby awoke completely hangover-free. She would've promised herself that she would never drink that much again in her entire life, but she was smart enough to know that this probably won't be the case anyway. Every time somebody made such a sweeping declaration, most likely with an audience present, they fell back into old patterns very quickly – in sitcoms often the next day already, for the comic effect.

However, she had promised herself at least one thing, albeit silently to herself – she would never drink that much again in her entire life because of the white-haired med student!

Ruby literally jumped out of her bed and started to get ready for the day. She was finally her old self again. She was smart, she was collected, she was energetic, and she had her feelings sorted out. Well, kinda. A bit. A little bit.

Anyway, at least she had an idea how to deal with them... and with her daily routine. She would just try not to think about the weird incident anymore and treat Weiss like she had always done. Well, like _they_ had always done: Her nice half would be encouraging, her mean half challenging. But both of them knew they had to handle things completely professional from now on – the white-haired girl was their med student, nothing more. All of this closeness to one specific person had really messed with their mind already. They won't let this happen again.

The crimson-haired girl rushed to the bathroom and took a shower. The warm water tickled her body soothingly and pleasantly, almost... erotically? No, definitely not erotically! These thoughts were inappropriate – especially connecting them to a certain person. This place's purpose was to clean oneself, not to fantasize about soaping another one's back or... other areas. Ruby hadn't even washed the shampoo out of her hair completely before she turned off the shower head and practically dove out of the cabin.

The crimsonette continued her morning routine by brushing her teeth. Well, there wasn't anything sexual to this activity, right? The closest thing she could come up with was sucking a dick... and Weiss most certainly didn't have one. Admittedly, there were toys that... wait a moment! How the hell had her thoughts wandered to this?! The young doctor almost choked on the toothpaste foam in her mouth. Luckily, she managed to spit it into the sink and not onto the mirror.

What was wrong with her today? Before this damn on-call room accident, she had barely been sexually active at all. And now she couldn't stop thinking about this stuff? Why?!

Dressing up: Now that was something she could do without a certain person entering her mind again... in whatever way. Underwear... damn it. She just grabbed something and closed the drawer as fast as she could. Leggings, skirt, shirt, her favorite hoodie. The same hoodie she had worn when she had met Weiss the first time. In a fit of annoyance, she tossed the piece of clothing across the room and into a corner. She didn't need it anyway – it wasn't that cold and it shouldn't rain today either. At least the weather forecast had told her that much.

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day. Normally, Ruby didn't waste a lot of time on it anymore. The times when she had enjoyed some cereal (200 grams of sugar at 100 grams of flakes, approximately) or even pancakes with fruit and syrup while watching cartoons were long since gone – besides Sunday. Every Sunday was still kind of a holy grail to her, created to only bring back a few joys of childhood... as long as she didn't have to take care of any critical patients, that is. However, when everyone the crimsonette was responsible for was in an at least stable condition, she didn't show up at the BGH on Sunday before 10 pm. Everybody knew that, everybody respected it... okay, maybe Ozpin had told them that it was a good thing that she was treating herself to some set free time – given how fiercely she ignored her fixed working hours and refused to take either break or vacation.

Would her behavior change when she'd be in a relationship someday, Ruby wondered. Yang didn't interfere with her routine, but with a girlfr- boyfriend! Or whatever... The crimsonette immediately corrected herself inwardly because her mind started to wander once again. Forcing her thoughts into another direction didn't work in the slightest, though.

She immediately wondered what Weiss' morning routine looked like: A cup of coffee, maybe some fruit... an apple or a banana... The white-haired girl didn't seem like the type to treat herself to a lavish breakfast, either, despite her (probably) pampered upbringing. The crimsonette immediately shook the thought of her med student out of her head again and wolfed down her piece of slightly burned toast slathered with strawberry jam.

After that, Ruby almost _threw_ her plate into the sink and made her way to the apartment's exit, grabbing her backpack on her way out. She had packed everything she needed for the day yesterday already... as always. She took her job pretty seriously, after all. The crimsonette slipped into her boots and took a last look at herself in the mirror next to the coatrack by the door: She was presentable... besides a last bit of shampoo still clinging to one of her bangs. The young doctor quickly grabbed a sleeve of one of the coats and wiped it away. Perfect...

With a last, determined nod to herself in the mirror, she concluded: "Okay! You're ready! And you're not gonna make a fool out of yourself in front of Weiss today!"

Then, she left her apartment and headed to the hospital.

* * *

Weiss shut off the alarm of the clock on her nightstand two minutes before the annoying noise would echo through her dorm room. Her biorhythm was finally back on track. She was herself again, smart, calm, collected, and she knew exactly how to handle any weirdness in her life. The normal one and, of course, the one regarding Ruby. At least she told herself that much, but she was sure that talking to Blake had helped her to a great extent. This day was going to be awesome.

The white-haired girl literally jumped out of her bunk, full of energy. This was going to be HER show today. She was the most brilliant med student of the whole class, after all. She had reviewed the last lectures, had memorized everything as well as a lot of additional information perfectly, and she was ready to shine again. She also looked forward to the practical tasks of the day. After all, she was better than every one of her grade in that regard, too. All thanks to... Ruby. Without even wanting to, the med student started to blush...

Wait, what was wrong about thinking of her attending physician at all? Admittedly, the girl was pretty difficult, but then again, she had helped her to become an extraordinary prospective doctor. And Weiss wanted her to continue to guide her through her clinical studies. Just because they had shared one weird, interpersonal moment (by accident, on top of that) didn't mean that anything had to change between them. Even though the white-haired girl wanted to strangle her sometimes, she won't hesitate to admit that the crimsonette was a brilliant physician, albeit her teaching methods might have a draconian touch to them from time to time. It somehow reminded her of her father...

Weiss shook the weird thoughts out of her mind and headed to the small bathroom of her dormitory. She loved lukewarm showers – while hot ones had a relaxing effect, cold ones had an energizing one. Best of both. The white-haired girl took her time cleaning her body... today had to be perfect, after all. However, when she lathered and washed her chest area, her mind automatically went back to the on-call room incident. She quickly ceased her actions and washed up as fast as possible. She didn't need these weird, pseudo-arousing thoughts anymore... not today!

Brushing her teeth, blow-drying her hair, combing it afterwards... The silver strands were long, plenty, and heavy. It would be nice to have some help doing this from time to time. Again, Weiss imagined Ruby doing the job: carefully entangling her snow-white hair, brushing her neck occasionally, yet affectionately, playing with the tips... Once more, the med student shook her head to get rid of these ridiculous pictures. She considered holding her head under ice-cold water, but then she had to go through the whole hair-styling process again.

Getting dressed was easy. Weiss organized her outfits for the whole week every Sunday, after all. It wasn't of any use, though, since Ruby wouldn't see her immaculate appearance anyway because she had to dress into these loose, potato sack-like scrubs for her shift. Damn it... again, the girl she wanted to keep out of her mind had managed to reenter it effortlessly.

Whatever... Weiss had to pack her stuff for the lectures. She easily remembered the last topics as well as the upcoming ones, therefore, sorting out her textbooks for the day was a simple task. However, her gaze suddenly fell on one about renal diseases and her mind started wandering again:

Ruby had a pretty complicated case regarding this a while ago. In order to impress her, Weiss had studied like crazy to solve it, had gone over the lab results over and over again, and whatnot else. Even during her lectures, the case had been occupying her mind and she had been dead set on solving it. After various hours of overthinking (which had killed the bigger portion of her free time during these days), she finally had an idea and told her attending physician the next day.

Admittedly, it was just a guess... a pretty far-fetched guess, on top of that, but still...

In the end, her guess was correct... and the crimsonette was incredibly happy – so happy that she had pulled her into a crushing hug after further lab results had proven her right. And even though the close contact had annoyed Weiss a little that time, it had felt... nice, nonetheless. Amazing, actually, now that she thought about it again. The feeling of being appreciated combined with the warmth and the tenderness of another person's body...

Suddenly, there was a warm feeling in her chest. But this time, it didn't travel to another certain part of her body – instead, it spread through her entire form evenly.

The thought of another shower, not a lukewarm but an ice-cold one, crossed her mind. Weiss quickly dismissed it and took a look at her Scroll. She still had a lot of time, yet, she didn't want to spend another minute in this apparently cursed dorm room. She tossed the books she needed for today into her backpack – way harsher than ultimately necessary – then, she stepped into the only pair of flats she possessed and made her way to her dorm room's exit.

A last look into the mirror by the coatrack... everything was fine, at least physically. The white-haired girl gave herself a firm nod and said to herself determinedly: "Alright! You're ready! And you're not gonna make a fool out of yourself in front of Doctor Rose today!"

Then, she left her dorm room and headed to the hospital.

* * *

If anyone would've witnessed both girl's morning rituals at the same time, they would probably be pretty astonished by the similarities. Maybe it was even some kind of... fate, for the lack of a better word.

* * *

When Ruby entered the hospital at the beginning of her shift, she felt unstoppable. This was her turf, after all. She was the best goddamn physician that ever walked down the halls of the BGH's intensive care unit. The crimsonette quickly went to the nurses' station, grabbed the updated charts of her patients Oobleck had taken care of yesterday and got to work. This was what she was good at... amazing, even. Thinking about differential diagnoses, coming up with a cure for the most difficult patients, finding a way to convince even the most stubborn morons to agree to whatever kind of treatment she suggested to heal them. One way... or the other.

The crimson-haired genius was finally back in the saddle, back on duty... and she loved every second of it. No white-haired med student, no thinking about what could or couldn't be. Just her... well, _them_... a couple of clipboards, a stack of pre scription sheets, and one or two cups of whatever the nurses labeled as _coffee_... It tasted awful, yet, Ruby loved it today, an d whatever radioactive chemicals were mixed into the instant broth (at least, that was her assumption), they did a fucking good job.

Ruby swamped herself with work (mostly to keep her mind occupied), not only with her own but with a fair share of her colleagues' stints – her patients were all stable, after all. It didn't matter to her that most additional tasks were mostly mundane ones: getting lab results, submitting prescriptions, or assisting somebody with an incredibly trivial surgery. Just holding a clamp was an efficient way to kill about half an hour when there wasn't anything else to do. Heck, she even gave her second opinion on a simple rash – something the dermatologist would've diagnosed immediately as a plain swimmer's itch when he would've asked his patient about his latest activities.

It was kinda ridiculous – the importance of patient histories was something med students learned in their first year. The crimson-haired doctor was absolutely certain that at least Weiss would've diagnosed the guy effortlessly the moment she would've caught a glimpse of his calf. Admittedly, Ruby knew that dermatology could be pretty difficult at times... but at least _this_ medical outcome was a joke. And a pretty bad one, on top of that.

Suddenly, the crimson-haired doctor was taken aback. Why was she thinking about Weiss again? The whole purpose of swamping herself with work was so she wouldn't think about her if she didn't have to and if she wasn't around, after all. And now it was already backfiring?

Before she had met the white-haired girl, nothing had thrown her off guard that easily – and she needed to go back to those times, back to her old self. Otherweiss... Umm, other _wise_ , her work performance... no, her whole raison d'être would suffer... until she didn't know who she was anymore. And that mustn't happen!

The thought of Weiss had bothered her enough this morning already. There was no way she would allow the white-haired girl to haunt her mind the rest of the day as well and mess with her job. She was her subordinate, her med student, and not some twisted object of admiration and pseudo-erotic fantasies.

Ruby knew she had to get a grip on herself. She had to stop overthinking. Blake had told her that much as well. If the crimson-haired girl allowed these obsessive thoughts to consume her, this awkwardness would continue and then everything would get worse.

'These weird feelings will go away if I simply stick to my everyday routine.', she told herself... over and over again.

* * *

In the lecture hall, Weiss was finally back in her element. No Doctor Rose, no awkward moments, conversations, or encounters... just her and a bunch of facts she was interested in and a couple of questions she already knew the answers to. This was her turf, after all. She was the best goddamn med student that had ever set foot into these halls – well, besides... nope, not thinking about _her_ right now!

The white-haired girl couldn't believe that she had forgotten what a kidney was that one time. She was a prodigy, after all. How the hell could a meaningless accident have made her that confused? In retrospect, it was just stupid. So incredibly stupid. No matter what weird feelings she might have or not have... or whatever these meant... or not meant... she was still Weiss fucking Schnee! Nothing could change that.

An interesting and important fact? She wrote down a hyper-accurate note. More input from the professor? Her note was expanded with additional facts from the speech as well as her knowledge from the books and the uncountable chapters she had read in advance. A question? Her hand was up before the lecturer had even finished the sentence. And, of course, Weiss gave the correct answer.

Wait? Professor Port told the students something without mentioning a rare, yet important alternate treatment strategy. Weiss to the rescue: She could correct that. Her new-found confidence made it easy to interrupt her Professor and point out the missing facts. At first, the gray-haired man just looked at her in confusion... but then, he admitted that she was completely right. He even thanked her for pointing it out since it could save a patient's life!

Yeah, that was the Weiss everybody loved... or at least envied. She was finally back at her best. It was about time, considering her embarrassing low these last days. She belonged at the top of the class... just like it had always been.

"Wow, Weiss.", Jaune exclaimed during lunch after the lectures were over, "That was amazing."

"I can only second that.", Pyrrha agreed, "I mean, you were always one of the best students but today, you were absolutely incredible. You even corrected Professor Port that one time... well, not much, but still."

"It was nothing.", the white-haired girl responded with a shrug, even though she was flattered by all the praise, "I had to study this stuff anyway because of a case... Doctor Rose..."

Suddenly, her thoughts trailed off. She couldn't even finish her sentence before her mind started wandering. Admittedly, Weiss knew that she had always been an exceptional student... and she had never been shy to tell everybody else that much. However, for some, weird reason, she felt different about that now. But so different that she thought she had to show false modesty... and really meant it, on top of that?

That was Ruby's doing... either the overly excited encouragement of her friendly half or the tough love (for the lack of a nicer word) of her mean one.

"Umm... Remnant to Weiss?", Jaune asked, a little worried since it wasn't usual for the white-haired girl to just space out, "What's with Doctor Rose?"

"N-nothing!", Weiss exclaimed, maybe a bit too forceful, "She had a complicated case, I studied the thing, that's it. N-nothing else happened."

"Oookay?", Pyrrha said and raised an eyebrow.

"A-anyway... what about your recent cases?", the white-haired girl quickly went on, trying to change the topic, "Anything interesting during the last few days?"

"Oh, well, you see...", Jaune responded and began explaining.

However, Weiss quickly stopped listening to him. Her brain was still completely occupied with Rub... Doctor Rose. Why was her mind forcing her to think about the crimsonette so much? Not just on a professional level... but even on an indecent one! This girl was her boss, her attending physician, and not some twisted object of admiration and pseudo-erotic fantasies.

Weiss knew she had to get a grip on herself. She had to stop overthinking. Blake had told her that much as well. If the white-haired girl allowed these obsessive thoughts to consume her, this awkwardness would continue and then everything would get worse.

'These weird feelings will go away if I simply stick to my everyday routine.', she told herself... over and over again.

* * *

One o'clock. A corridor. The ICU's nurses' station. An innocent bystander tapping away at a keyboard... until she noticed the two most infamous gunslingers at the BGH approaching each other from opposite sides. Yang could only watch the spectacle that unfolded itself in front of her helplessly. There was an uncomfortable silence. The only things that could be heard were the beeping from a nearby heart monitor and the sound of a tumbleweed rolling by.

"Yaaang... stop whistling the melody of this stupid cowboy movie you made me watch the other day.", Ruby sighed when she and Weiss reached the counter, "I'm almost sure we won't shoot each other. And it's past high noon anyway."

"You're no fun today, sis.", the blonde nurse said grumpily and returned to work.

"Remember this day, Weiss.", the crimsonette said solemnly, "We defeated Yang with logic." Then, she gave her med student a gleeful grin.

"I pick out in your tone of voice that this won't happen again, am I right?", the white-haired girl responded and a small smile crept to her face as well. She had noticed quickly which version of her attending physician was standing in front of her.

"Why are you ganging up against me all of a sudden?", Yang asked with a pout, "I didn't do anything besides adding a little more zest to your entrance."

"By implying we're going to kill each other?", Ruby said and raised an eyebrow.

"Well... perhaps?", the blonde responded with a shrug.

"Aaanyway... Weiss, are you ready?", the crimsonette asked and turned to her med student, "We have a lot of stuff to do today. I kiiinda, accidently, overloaded myself with work while you were attending your lectures."

"As if it had been any different in the past.", the white-haired girl noted with a small grin, "You can count on me, Doctor Rose."

"Alright. Then let's get to it.", Ruby said conclusively, "We're gonna make sure we're the best doctor-student duo that ever walked down these halls."

Then, she grabbed a couple of clipboards and the odd couple went to work.

"The movie ended pretty differently, y'know.", Yang cat-called at them with a chuckle.

* * *

"I got the meds you wanted.", Weiss announced while she rushed to her attending physician's side later that day, "I also have the patient history from the guy in bed nine."

"Awesome. And I think I have figured out what's wrong with Ms. Reed.", Ruby responded while she scanned some files next to a young, sleeping girl's bed, "Any guesses, my fearless partner?"

"Well, umm... considering the symptoms and other key factors, like the chest pain and shortness of breath, I'd say it's either a pulmonary embolism or pneumonia.", Weiss said thoughtfully.

"It's most certainly the latter one since she's pretty young. I'll still schedule an echocardiography, just to be sure.", the crimson-haired doctor responded, then she handed the patient's files over to her med student, "Get this stuff to the lab and tell them to test everything I've written down. If they don't have enough blood for everything anymore, send me a message."

"Will do.", the white-haired girl quickly said and was about to leave. But then...

"Oh, and Weiss...", Ruby called her back, "Great diagnosis. You're already a pretty good doctor. Unfortunately, I can't sign your license right away, hehe..." Then, she gave her med student a beaming smile.

"Nah, it was nothing.", the white-haired girl responded and, for some reason, she felt a faint blush creep to her cheeks.

"No, I really mean it.", the younger girl continued, "I... I mean, if I get sick someday, I'll let you treat me anytime. Whatever I catch..."

"Umm, t-thanks... I guess...", Weiss said, a little taken aback by the odd compliment. Unfortunately, the offer set something into motion inside of her mind. Pictures of her and Ruby immediately flooded her head: Taking the younger girl's temperature, her pulse... listening to her chest... In the blink of an eye, her blush went from light pink to deep red.

"A-anyway. I-I should get this stuff to the lab.", she stammered and turned around, "S-see ya later." With these words, the white-haired girl stormed off towards the laboratory.

However, Ruby couldn't help but stare after her. As if a switch was suddenly flipped in her brain, she couldn't take her eyes away from her med student's body. Or, to be more precise, a certain part of her body. A part that had a nice sway to it. And she wasn't referring to Weiss' ponytail...

'What in hell do you think you are doing?', sounded an annoyed voice inside of her head.

'Umm... I... I wasn't doing anything! I-it was...'

'An _accident_? You're a terrible liar and you know that, dipshit.'

'I-I was just making sure that Weiss would do her job. T-that she would really take the shortest route to the laboratory. That she wouldn't slack off.'

'You were making sure that _her butt_ take s the shortest route to the laboratory.'

'Uhh... I... well...'

'What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought we agreed to stop having these weird thoughts about or obsessions with this white-haired annoyance?'

'I couldn't help it, okay?! It wasn't exactly my fault, either. I mean, why does her butt still looks so good in these baggy scrubs?'

'Í have no idea... Umm... I-I mean... it doesn't! Urgh, why the hell are we talking about Weiss'... whatever in the first place? We have a job to do, damn it! Pull yourself together, bonehead!'

The mental conversation of both Rubies ended abruptly after that had been said. However, a certain picture of two perfectly round globes behind this layer of blue fabric didn't leave their mind.

This was bad... really, really bad...

* * *

Later that day, Ruby and Weiss met again at the nurses' station. For some reason, Yang was nowhere to be seen... which was probably a good thing since the odd couple didn't have to endure any more movie references that way. However, the white-haired med student wouldn't have minded a little backup right now, because...

"Look who has finally finished her tasks.", Ruby's scolding voice addressed her med student the moment she was within earshot, "Just in time, it seems. I was about doing it myself and asking Ozpin for something useful instead of you. Like a trained capuchin, for example."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, _evil_ Ruby.", Weiss retorted with a challenging grin, "And here I thought today would be relaxing... I was rather enjoying the at least manageable deadlines but I guess that's going to change now, am I right?"

"Seems you're not as dumb as I thought, Ice Queen.", the crimsonette responded, "Well, at least you finally grew completely accustomed to my _switchy_ attitude. Hats off to you in that regard."

"Thank you very much, Doctor Rose.", the white-haired med student simply responded, "I know you have some serious trouble complimenting people who actually matter to you because of your... interesting mental condition."

"Don't overbid your hand, Atlesian annoyance.", Ruby shot back, "Just because I'm willing to give you a chance doesn't mean I will stop looking out for any kind of imperfection to ultimately get rid of you."

"You can search for any slip-ups as much as you want.", Weiss said, "So far, I've overcome every challenge you threw at me, no matter if I was allowed to do it or not. I even diagnosed the patient with pneumonia today – another one of your little tests I passed with flying colors."

"That was a pretty easy diagnosis.", the crimsonette explained and rolled her eyes, "And I'm still not sure if it just hasn't been dumb luck. By the way, you just slimmed it down to two diseases. Pretty similar ones, but still..." The last part was spoken in a lower voice, for some reason.

"Well then, test me again if you must.", the med student responded, now in an even more challenging tone, "I'm pretty certain I can repeat this _dumb luck_ as many times as you want."

"What to look for in a uremic patient besides the classic signs?", Ruby suddenly asked, catching Weiss completely by surprise. Luckily, she quickly regained her composure... more or less.

"U-umm... I-infections?", the med student managed to stammer.

"Is this a question or your answer?", the young doctor grumbled, obviously displeased by the white-haired girl's insecurity.

"M-my... my answer, of course.", Weiss clarified shortly after.

"Hmm... okay, what's next?", Ruby said to herself, deep in thought and tapping her chin, "What is the pathologic abnormality causing the Bernard-Soulier disease?"

"The absence of von Willebrand receptors.", the white-haired girl answered, this time a lot more confident.

"Urgh...", the crimsonette gnarled, "Alright, then... You have a patient who is hypoglycemic. What would be the most telling sign of an insulinoma?"

"Elevated fasting C-peptide levels.", Weiss responded almost immediately.

"Treatment?", Ruby simply spat.

"Removal of the tumor via Whipple procedure.", the med student said, never breaking eye contact.

"If inoperable?"

"Medications such as diazoxide and somatostatin to block the release of insulin."

"What to use for the chemo?"

"Streptozotocin and either doxorubicin or fluorouracil in patients where doxorubicin is contraindicated."

For a moment, the crimson-haired doctor just stared at the girl in front of her in utter disbelief.

"H-how the hell do you know all of this?", Ruby managed to ask after a couple of seconds, "E-especially the last stuff... and in such detail, on top of that?"

"When Mrs. Scarlett... the patient I met on my second day... well, of course, you remember anyway... passed away a few weeks ago, I learned everything I could about the pancreas.", Weiss explained, a little sadness in her voice, "I know she wasn't my patient or anything and we couldn't have done anything to save her but... I felt helpless, for some reason. And... I didn't want to feel that way anymore. So I studied this stuff. I know it sounds stupid since..."

"Shut up, Weiss...", the crimson-haired girl suddenly sighed, yet, it didn't sound hostile in the slightest, "I know that feeling all too well. That's why I became a doctor in the first place, after all."

The white-haired girl immediately remembered the day Yang had told her about Ruby's condition on the rooftop... About what had happened with her mom... About how the younger girl converted her sadness into dedication...

"That's why I want to become one, too.", Weiss finally responded, "I don't want to feel helpless anymore... and I don't want others to feel this helplessness... this hopelessness I felt... still do, sometimes..."

Suddenly, she was taken aback. Why did she tell Ruby all of this? And how the hell had their conversation taken this turn in the first place? But then again, for some, weird reason, it felt good to confide in somebody who had experienced something at least somewhat similar.

"Well, whatever.", the crimsonette suddenly huffed, trying to adopt an indifferent tone of voice, then she signed something, "Take these prescription sheets and get me a couple of meds... oh, and don't try to get yourself some Prozac in the process."

"Alright, Doctor Rose.", the med student responded with a nod, trying to act all professional again. She was about to turn around to get the task done, but then...

"But first...", Ruby added quickly and Weiss even thought she could see a tiny smile on her attending physician's lips, "How about you grab us both a coffee... a good one, from the cafeteria... before you go to the pharmacy. I'll meet you there in a few."

"Consider it done.", the med student said conclusively and couldn't help but smile a little herself. Then, she went back to work.

"No dilly-dallying, though, do you hear me, Ice Queen!", the crimsonette cat-called at her, trying to sound harsh again, "I'm still pretty sure a capuchin can be trained to do your job!" Weiss only gave her an acknowledging wave in return.

Much to her own confusion, Ruby was suddenly unable to take her eyes off her med student... again. And once more, her gaze was drawn to one specific part of the white-haired girl's body. Even this version of the crimsonette had to admit that, despite the fact that Weiss' bust was pretty small, she had other assets to make up for it... and then some.

'Can you please tell me why _you_ are looking at Weiss' butt now?', a curious (and a bit gleeful) voice piped up in her head.

Busted!

'L-look, dipshit, I was... umm... just curious because you were looking at it earlier this day.', Ruby's withdrawn half tried to explain herself. 'I just wanted to know why you were staring at it, nothing more. So basically, this is your fault. B-by the way, I still don't get what's the big deal about her ass.'

'Then why are we getting aroused? Riddle me this.'

'W-we aren't getting aroused! Why would simply staring at another person's butt get us aroused? We're not some sex-deprived animals!'

Unfortunately, her body betrayed her. She felt a faint blush creeping to her cheeks and a familiar heat pooling in her stomach. The thought of what was beneath the white-haired med students scrubs immediately and inevitably made itself home in her mind.

Fuck!

* * *

Weiss was, as always, completely oblivious to what turmoils she was causing in the crimsonette's mind. She was just glad that the awkwardness between them finally seemed to be over... well, mostly. Nevertheless, everything was already going way better than expected – and a lot sooner than she had thought that would happen as well.

With the weirdness from the on-call room accident sorted out (or at least ignored), all that remained was... admittedly, _happiness_ was probably still too strong a word to describe it, but it went in that direction. That was definitely an improvement. At least it was far better than stammering completely awkward stuff to each other all the time.

They were finally able to interact normally with each other again. Nice Ruby was bubbly and encouraging, evil Ruby witty and challenging. To be honest, Weiss kinda liked both of them. Of course, the friendly version of the crimsonette was still her favorite in that regard, but then again, if it would be _just_ her, things would probably get a little boring from time to time.

Maybe they were able to function as a real team, after all – all three of them.

The white-haired girl suddenly remembered nice Ruby's beaming smile she had given her after she had diagnosed the patient correctly. It had looked... nice, for the lack of a better word. Proud. Encouraging. And, for some reason, accepting. Not just in a professional way... but in a personal way as well.

But then again, even evil Ruby's small, yet honest one from a few minutes ago was just as good. Of course, this crimsonette was still pushing Weiss a little too hard, but that was what had helped her to become such an amazing med student after just three months. And didn't the harsh treatment make her smile even more meaningful since it was so much harder to get?

In a way, it looked almost cuter than nice Ruby's one.

Wait? Cuter?! Why would Weiss consider this small twitch of lips cuter than the other Ruby's beaming smile? What?! No, wrong direction. Why would she consider Ruby cute in the first place?

Admittedly, the crimsonette was a pretty cute girl, objectively speaking, of course. Seriously, what was not to love about that silky, black-and-red hair, the cute button nose, and those mesmerizing silver eyes? But it wasn't just her face that was incredibly good-looking. No, not even the lab coat could conceal the fact that Ruby had a beautiful, already pretty curvy body. Weiss was a little jealous... well, at least about the younger girl's bust.

Okay... that train of thought took an even wronger turn. The white-haired girl suddenly felt a strange warmth pool in her stomach and... a little deeper. A little higher as well, since her face was also burning up. Weiss tried to shake the inappropriate thoughts out of her mind again, but they were stuck in there, for whatever reason.

Damn it!

* * *

The first workday after their respective therapy sessions wasn't even over, yet Weiss, as well as both Rubies, already knew one thing for sure:

'These weird feelings _won't_ go away if I simply stick to my everyday routine.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, boy... That didn't go as planned for these three useless lesbians. Well, at least internally. But then again, they are finally able to interact with each other again with only a small amount of awkwardness. And as long as that stays this way, they'll be able to do their respective jobs properly and won't make a fool out of themselves in front of the other.
> 
> Yeah... I doubt this goes well much longer, either^^
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter in the comments. Looks like both Rubies (and Weiss as well) don't just have a romantic but a sexual awakening, too. I'm just as curious as you how things will go from here. Stay tuned for the next chapter! Oh, and Happy New Year, folks!


End file.
